Sleeps Kicks are exploring the world of Timothy Leary with their first new single since 2020. While partaking in some experience-enhancing edibles, the band began pondering the limits of our corporeal forms, only to transcend off the edge towards their own “Ego Death.”
As philosophical as that might sound, Sleepy Kicks go all reductio ad absurdum on “Ego Death” by explaining it as “the tale of two guys who are really good at weed and two guys who are really bad at weed,” though, to be fair, most of rock and roll is probably some variation of that story.
It all began during a nature outing in the winter of January 2021, while Mitch Currie was lamenting the loss of a pet hamster that had been left in the care of a friend, only to be returned in a less-than-living state. From there, combined with the lubricating powers of what the band note as “100% legal” cannabis edibles, grew an ode to the friends and pets that had passed on. However, late that night, in a cabin nestled in the dark woods of rural Nova Scotia, the edibles would win and “Ego Death” would be born of the transcendental experience of simply having too much to think.
Currie, a little less seasoned than his bandmates, says he gratefully accepted the offer of the edibles, but was unprepared for their full effect. Usually a “head-hits-the-pillow-brain-go-beddy-bye type”, Currie instead found himself to be a touch overstimulated, even to the point of sleeplessness. It was then that Mitch knew he was experiencing the death of his own ego.
“Honestly, he had a rough go,” says Currie’s bandmates. “We were only given secondhand accounts of the events, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t real (and who are we to say, anyway. Maybe he wasn’t). It was through this terrifying night of endless dissociated pacing that he was able to glean the new angle for the song: incorporating psychological death into the theme of physical death. Real peppy stuff.”
All that being said, the song never shakes Sleepy Kicks’ habitually upbeat sound. They go heavy on the beat, only to whisk it out from under your feet to balance the song’s energy against a state of uncertainty.
“This is our first release since our debut EP, Hard Left, and we are super stoked that Mitch had a really bad time for the sake of our art,” says the band. “Thanks, buddy.”
“In all seriousness, nobody intended for Mitch to have a bad time, and we recommend everyone start low and slow, and remember that as soon as you take the second edible, the first one always kicks in with more power than popeye mainlining spinach. Stay safe and enjoy weed responsibly, to keep your ego alive and well.”
“Ego Death” is the just first in a series of singles that Sleepy Kicks say they plan to release in the coming months.