If there was ever a perfect time to tackle the subject of depression and mental illness, it’s January. Alexander Wolfe’s ‘I Can’t Get To Sleep’ arrives at a time where we need artists to speak out about their struggles if we have any hope of extinguishing the stigma surrounding mental illness. The London-born singer-songwriter rises to the challenge valiantly.
On this dark affair, Wolfe grapples with the manifestation of his depression and the struggle to overcome it. For most of the song, it sounds as if he’s already accepted a bleak fate; the marching beat, looming piano and suspense-filled strings coalesce to create a sound too foreboding to conquer. But his tightly stacked harmonies and gentle acoustic guitar weather the storm of doubt through to the middle eight, which takes a turn for the hopeful. His devastatingly candid lyrics illuminate home truths that a lot of us will find all-too familiar “It’s not the wolf, it’s often me… I never swam the shallow end,” he laments. As Wolfe takes the bull by the horns, and his fate into his own hands it’s a powerful message to listeners that they’re capable of doing the same.
