Awake Is the New Sleep | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 22 February 2005 | |||
Recorded | March−November 2004 | |||
Studio | Seagrass Studio Valley Village, Los Angeles, California, United States | |||
Genre | Indie pop | |||
Length | 56:54 | |||
Label | New West Records (USA) Inertia Distribution (Australia) | |||
Producer | Brad Wood | |||
Ben Lee chronology | ||||
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Singles from Awake Is the New Sleep | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 57/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Pitchfork Media | (2.9/10) [3] |
Rolling Stone | [4] |
Awake Is the New Sleep is the fifth album by Australian musician Ben Lee, released in 2005. It reached #5 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, becoming his most successful album. It contains the top 40 singles "Gamble Everything for Love" and "Catch My Disease". "Gamble Everything for Love" was also voted number 15 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 while "Catch My Disease" was #2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005. The song "We're All in This Together" was used on several television advertisements in Australia and New Zealand, including Coca-Cola and The Salvation Army Community Services. It was later featured in Industry SuperFunds ad from 2016 to the present.
At the J Award of 2005, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year. [5]
In October 2010, Awake Is the New Sleep was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums . [6]
Before writing Awake Is The New Sleep, Lee traveled to India. It was here that he met Sakthi Narayani Amma, who inspired him spiritually and told him he would succeed if he put the message of joy into his music. This was a turning point for Lee. Having experienced criticism for his light heartedness in the past, Lee felt a renewed need to incorporate joy and happiness into his music. Lee also changed his reason for making music, from creating music to get something out of it to creating music as a way to give to others. All of this greatly influenced the music on Awake Is The New Sleep. [7]
(all songs written by Lee except where noted)
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [12] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
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