Team Sleep
Untitled (Demo)

With what word would one describe a song like "Natalie Portman"? Magical.
I was more than a little amazed when I discovered that the aforementioned song, along with the other 12 I had downloaded, all belonged to an unreleased collection by the group, which had been circulating online for two years and remained there, ready for download, without a cover, without the possibility of holding an original copy. Without even a title: and this saddens me.

Team Sleep garnered a good following after the release of their self-titled album, riding the wave of Chino Moreno's name, who apparently decided to depart from the main path of his primary band and use his spectacular voice toward shores much closer to the ambient and trip-hop of Portishead, without neglecting the electric power of guitars. However, that album was released: the one I'm reviewing, however, was not. That's why my review has no commercial foothold whatsoever, as you can find this demo only online.
There probably isn't a single review of this splendid work: that's why I felt almost a moral duty to do it, since no one would be interested in reviewing a CD when it can't be sold. And for being a "simple demo" (no way, this is a real album), for being discarded ideas, for being a "something" without even a title that might never be mentioned in their discography, here one can only take off their hat.
Because if Chino wanted to amaze, he succeeded. If he wanted to create something of value in distancing himself from his Deftones, he succeeded. If he wanted to prove he's not the usual stupid nu-metal head, but rather a skilled composer and equally skilled musician, he succeeded. And what emerges here from the depths is that piece of his soul that had always been stifled with the Deftones, needing a new band to come to light.

Forgive my naïveté, but in my opinion, the very first Team Sleep had something magical and simple in their way of making music. Try to examine some songs: overall, they always travel by relying on a few chords, on a few notes. Repeated: they are the soft carpet on which Moreno's voice stretches, stretches out, and prepares to dream. Because it was evidently not important for Team Sleep to create simple "songs," some melody, some riff. For them, it was important to create harmonies, create atmospheres, and in this, they succeeded perfectly. This is their merit. Sometimes they use electronics, sometimes an acoustic guitar, sometimes sublime electric balances reign, not forgetting the contribution of Mike Patton in a track like "Kool Aid Party".
Regardless of the means, their aim is to tie ambient atmospheres to a simple and immediate structure in the arrangements. Forget the Deftones entirely, with Team Sleep all you'll be able to do is dream.