Stellan Wahlstrom Drift Band
The Sleeper - A Live Collection

Photo Credit: Zac O'Yeah

Stellan Wahlström Drift Band are marking a long run of shows with a new album built entirely from live recordings gathered over several years. It opens with “The Sleeper” from Arlene’s Grocery in New York, performed with a rare line-up that brings Billy Ficca, Jason Victor and Patrick Derivaz on stage alongside Wahlström. A later cut from the same night, “What Are You Made Of?”, captures the same loose energy and is one of the instant standouts.
The record moves between cities and line-ups. Recent Stockholm shows supply spacious versions of “And I Was Finally Sleeping” and “Hotel Continental”, both shaped by Fender Rhodes and phaser guitar, giving the songs a calm, steady drift. Another highlight is a stripped-back take on “An Old Monk in an Ambassador in the Rain”, recorded at Rönnells, where the piano carries most of the weight.

There is an unexpected return to the late nineties with an acoustic performance of “The Paying”, recorded with Amy Madden in a small East Village club. The album finishes with a rough, loud recording of “Let Me Play With Your Poodle”, taken from an old cassette found from a Stockholm show in the early nineties.
Wahlström’s move from garage rock, through The Wylde Mammoths and The High Speed V, into the more spacious sound of the Drift Band is clear across these recordings. The album presents that shift in real time, with each track offering a moment from the band’s evolving live history.