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Sleeping Dogs

by Alice Cotton

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Bringontheblues
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Bringontheblues The lilt of Alice's voice, the joyous harmonies and the relatable narrative have me listening to this track on repeat. An earworm that I love to come back to. Favorite track: Sleeping Dogs.
zarattt
zarattt thumbnail
zarattt Sleeping Dogs is a beautiful, reflective track that feels like gentle musings on a Sunday morning over a strong cup of tea.
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about

"Cotton pens a beautifully tender and emotive track inviting us into her reflection" - Tone Deaf

"A beautiful and delicate writer..such a great track, love it" - Nkechi Anele, triple j

"a nuanced way of viewing the world has clearly produced an artist and performer of rare qualities ... Alice’s approach is insightful" - Foldback Media


Singer-songwriter Alice Cotton may be based in Darwin, but that hasn’t prevented her from collaborating with Australian music legends on her debut single ‘Sleeping Dogs’.

Released on Feb 5, 2021, ‘Sleeping Dogs’ is a collaboration with recording engineer Matt Cunliffe (Yothu Yindi), and features guest performances from Holly Thomas (Quivers), Gormie (Angie McMahon) and Pepi Emmerichs (Oh Pep!). The track was recorded and mixed over four months, a sprawling partnership between seven musicians and three sound engineers across the Northern Territory, Melbourne, Castlemaine and Scotland.

Alice Cotton said: “It was a completely different process to how I had initially envisioned it – live recordings with the full band in a cosy recording studio, after a week of rehearsals. I decided to embrace the sprawl and I left a lot of creative decisions up to each musician. I was lucky to work with stellar musos and felt I could trust their judgement and that it would take the track in an unusual direction.”

Sleeping Dogs is a rolling, layered track filled with intimacy and quirk. About the track Alice Cotton said: “It’s about that period of time after a relationship ends and you really want to reach out and reconnect. I was trying to figure out if I should do that, or respect their boundaries and just let sleeping dogs lie. There is disbelief that the relationship has shifted to a place where it is best to have zero contact. I was reflecting on the end of my first queer relationship, and the joy and grief and tenderness and mess that comes with that”

The Sleeping Dogs initiative has also included other Northern Territory multi-disciplinary artists with a soon-to-be-released music video with, visual art representations, screen printing and has been supported through funding from ArtsNT and the NT Regional Arts Fund.

lyrics

LYRICS

You’re a headstrong woman
You look a lot like your ma
You make me want to play out of time, want to sing out of tune
On that old-time song

Four months, got me wondering
Should I let sleeping dogs alone?
Pulling back and forth
When the one I love is not at home

Ooh
Ooh

I want to stamp my feet like a child
Say it ain’t so
Gonna screech and scream, kick up a fuss
And I’ll refuse to let you go

Four months, got me wondering
Should I let sleeping dogs alone
Pulling back and forth
When the one I love is not at home

Where did it all go wrong?
Where did it all go wrong?

Take some time, it's gonna
Take some time, yes I’ll
Take some time and that’s alright

Take some time, you gotta
Take some time, yes I’ll
Take some time and that’s alright
That’s alright

Darlin’ I don’t know how we fit together any more

credits

released February 5, 2021
Written by Alice Cotton.

Lead vocals and guitar: Alice Cotton
Backing vocals: Stefanie Zappino, Melanie Hansen, Phoebe Stretton-Smith
Drums: Holly Thomas
Strings: Pepita Emmerichs
Bass: Alexander O'Gorman

Recorded by Matt Cunliffe (Subsonic) and Jono Steer (The Perch Recording Studio) in Darwin and Castlemaine, Australia.

Additional recording by Alexander O'Gorman, Stefanie Zappino, Melanie Hansen, Phoebe Stretton-Smith and Schina Coy (Melbourne), and Pepita Emmerichs (Scotland).

Mixing and mastering by Isaac Barter.

Created with support from Regional Arts Fund and ArtsNT.

Written and recorded on Larrakia, Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, and Dja Dja Wurrung Country, where sovereignty was never ceded.

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Alice Cotton Darwin, Australia

Infectious and off-kilter music from the tropical North.

Alice Cotton has been compared to Australian artists 'Paul Kelly and Stella Donnelly…you're hit with the depth and breadth of her storytelling' - Nkechi Anele, triple j

Photo courtesy of RachelRachel
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