Awake Is the New Sleep

Awake Is the New Sleep
Studio album by Ben Lee
Released	22 February 2005
Recorded	Seagrass Studio Valley Village, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Indie pop
Length	56:54
Label	New West Records (USA) Inertia Distribution (Australia)
Producer	Brad Wood
Ben Lee chronology
hey you. yes you. (2002)hey you. yes you.2002 Awake Is the New Sleep (2005) Ripe (2007)Ripe2007

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	57/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Pitchfork Media	(2.9/10)
Rolling Stone

Awake Is the New Sleep is the fifth album by Australian musician Ben Lee, released in 2005. It reached #5 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, becoming his most successful album. It contains the top 40 singles "Gamble Everything for Love" and "Catch My Disease". "Gamble Everything for Love" was also voted number 15 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 while "Catch My Disease" was #2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005. The song "We're All in This Together" was used on several television advertisements in Australia and New Zealand, including Coca-Cola and The Salvation Army Community Services. In October 2010, Awake Is the New Sleep was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

Influences

Before writing Awake Is The New Sleep, Lee traveled to India. It was here that he met Sakthi Narayani Amma, who inspired him spiritually and told him he would succeed if he put the message of joy into his music. This was a turning point for Lee. Having experienced criticism for his light heartedness in the past, Lee felt a renewed need to incorporate joy and happiness into his music. Lee also changed his reason for making music, from creating music to get something out of it to creating music as a way to give to others. All of this greatly influenced the music on Awake Is The New Sleep.

Track listing

(all songs written by Lee except where noted)

1. "Whatever It Is" – 3:18
2. "Gamble Everything for Love" – 3:21
3. "Begin" – 4:12
4. "Catch My Disease" (Lee, McGowan Southworth) – 4:14
5. "Apple Candy" – 3:22
6. "Ache for You" – 4:05
7. "Into the Dark" – 2:46
8. "No Right Angles" – 3:34
9. "Get Gotten" – 3:07
10. "Close I've Come" – 3:23
11. "The Debt Collectors" – 2:50
12. "We're All in This Together" – 4:39
13. "Light" – 9:48
14. "I'm Willing" – 4:01

Singles

The singles released from Awake Is the New Sleep exemplify the message of the album: love and togetherness. Listed here are the titles of the singles and a brief description of their content.

• "Gamble Everything for Love" (2004)

"Gamble Everything for Love" is about the importance of putting love above all else. Its message is that love should be put first in all instances; that love, if you make a point to embrace it, will fulfill all of your needs.

• "Catch My Disease" (2005)

"Catch My Disease" is a song about embracing Lee's thinking. He sings, "Open your heart, and catch my disease". Due to past criticism of his light-hearted music, this may be interpreted as Lee suggesting that others open themselves up to his music and its message.

• "We're All in This Together" (2006)

"We're All in This Together" is a song about the connectedness of humanity. Its message is that the things we do affect others.

Credits

• Ben Lee - vocals, guitar, bass, percussion
• Lara Meyerratken - keyboards, vocals, drums, percussion, "atmosphere"
• McGowan Southworth – guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion
• Brad Wood - drums on tracks 2, 4 and 7; bass; drum programming; saxophone; vocals; percussion
• Jason Schwartzman - drums on tracks 10 and 13
• Eric Gardner - drums on tracks 8 and 12
• Rob Hann - bass on tracks 8 and 12
• Chick Wolverton - percussion

Party Vocals

• Har Mar Superstar
• Jenny Lewis
• Jason Falkner
• Scarlett Chorvatt
• Melanie Sirmons
• Sam Spiegel
• Jason Boesel
• Olivia Asta Wood
• Gracie Garcia
• Katie Mulcahy