Drowse (band)

Drowse
Drowse performing live in 2014
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Experimental, Slowcore, Shoegaze, Indie Rock, Folk, Drone, Ambient, Electronic, lo-fi, Noise Pop, Post-Punk
Years active	2013 - Present
Labels	The Native Sound, Apneic Void, Television Records
Associated acts	Floating Room
Website	https://drowsepnw.com/
Members	Kyle Bates, Maya Stoner, Tuesday Faust

Drowse is the musical project of American musician and producer Kyle Bates. Based in Portland, Oregon, Bates founded the project in 2013 and released the debut album, Soon Asleep, in 2015.

Bates collaborates with other musicians during his home recordings and live shows.

Before forming Drowse, Bates played in local bands and recorded music on his laptop. In 2011 Bates experienced a dissociative mental breakdown that would inform the first few Drowse releases. In 2013 he released an EP, Songs to Sleep On through Television Records and began performing live with help from various Portland musicians.

Drowse released its debut album Soon Asleep through Apneic Void Sounds in 2015. The album featured Portland based singer Tuesday Faust. Following the release of Soon Asleep, Drowse recorded music that was contributed to Miserable's 2016 album, Uncontrollable.

In 2016 Drowse released an EP titled Memory Bed through New York based label The Native Sound.Memory Bed featured vocal and lyrical collaborations with Maya Stoner of the band Sabonis. Drowse has shared the stage with a wide range of musical acts, including Planning for Burial and King Woman.

Drowse derives influence from multiple genres and has been labeled "drone-pop", "shoegaze/drone", and "dream pop."Vice described the project's sound as "the aural equivalent of blood rushing back to a sleeping limb" and likened it to a "post-black metal take on" English shoegazing band Slowdive and Texas post-rock band Explosions in the Sky.Spin writer Matt Malone noted that "Drowse prioritizes music over lyrics, using vocals not to tell a story as much as add an instrumental layer to the music's soothing fog."A.V. Club critic Brian Shultz characterized the project's sound as "breathy, entrancing, and certainly a little bit eerie." Cris Lankenau, writing for Willamette Week, compared Drowse to other Pacific Northwest musical acts Mount Eerie and Grouper.