Dahlia Sleeps - 'Close Your Eyes'
Photo credit: Tom Johnson
London-based duo Dahlia Sleeps share a powerful call to arms addressing the ongoing violence toward the LGBTQI+ community on new single, ‘Close Your Eyes’
‘Close Your Eyes’ opens on a dramatic and enigmatic instrumental seeing pulsating free-flowing electronics paired with apprehensive tones. Lucy Hill’s captivating vocal floats in on the thought-provoking lyrics, ‘You say we’ve won / Hatred undone / Oh don’t you see the blood on her face / Don’t tell me I’m safe / We’ve got to be brave’ leaving its listener feeling the full chill of its words. You see, ‘Close Your Eyes’ calls out not only the perpetrators of prejudice, violence and hatred against the LGBTQI+ community, but the naysayers who refuse to believe it exists.
Lucy explains, ‘We are in a period of increasing violence against the LGBTQI+ community, with hate crimes in the UK almost tripling in the last decade. This was splashed across the papers for all to see in May 2019 when two women returning from a date were attacked on a bus, their faces bloodied and pained. As a lesbian it spun me out to see these women forced into the spotlight in such a painful and violent moment, and it was these images that inspired “Close Your Eyes” Many like to believe queer people now live free from discrimination, in an equal society, but this is far from the truth, especially for the most vulnerable parts of our community who routinely face vitriol and violence - online and on the streets."
Despite the heavy nature of the track’s lyrical theme, and the tension that writher within the track, there’s a powerful, invigorating and robust energy to the song that feels ambitiously optimistic, sending shivers of strength in its wake. A formidable offering from a duo who mean business.
Close Your Eyes’ coincides with the release of Side A of the band's debut album Overflow which is out now. Side B of Overflow will be released in full, Spring 2022.
Words of Karla Harris