Arms and Sleepers • Swim Team X Anniversary Repress [LP]

Arms and Sleepers, composed of Boston duo Max Lewis and Mirza Ramic, revealed itself to the world almost a decade ago. In that time, the group has put out a total of 18 releases, collaborated with dozens of prominent artists (Tom Brosseau of Fat Cat Records, Philip Jamieson of Caspian, Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari) and worked on numerous remixes (Caspian, Helios, Ef, Tape Deck Mountain, and others). The project has taken Mirza Ramic, the live performer of the duo, across North America, Europe, and Asia over the past 8 years, attracting worldwide attention and garnering widespread appreciation from all corners of the industry.

2014 marks the beginning of a new chapter for Arms and Sleepers, with the release of their first new album in over three years – entitled Swim Team – scheduled for October 28th via Fake Chapter Records. Building on the ambient sound of their previous work while taking their music in a fundamentally new direction, Swim Team sees the duo taking bold creative steps and coming into full focus. “The album is definitely a departure from our previous releases – it has more to the point, concise compositions with a lot of focus on beats and different synth sounds,” says Ramic. And songs like Swim Team and Hurry Slowly perfectly embody the band’s new and amped-­up sound.

Inspired by childhood obsessions in the 80s, Swim Team draws from instrumental hip-­hop, R&B-­influenced instrumentation and a wide range of electronic music to capture nostalgic moments. Despite a relatively short running time of 35 minutes, the album manages to deliver a wide range of intense emotions through its tapestry of intricate melodies and upbeat rhythms. More importantly, the new album fulfills the longing we have had for new music since the release of the band’s critically-acclaimed 2011 album The Organ Hearts. Swim Team is a compelling album characterized by a beautiful blend of lush textures, complex beats, and subtle harmonies which illustrate the duo’s growth and pursuit of invention and reinvention – becoming their most dynamic album yet.