JESTER – Back With a Song Too Good to Ignore ‘Talking in Your Sleep’
By Out The 22nd of May pre-save HERE
More than six years have passed since Thurles outfit Jester released their debut album Shadows Need a Light, carving out a space somewhere between widescreen melancholy and late-night indie escapism.
Even now, Shadows Need a Light remains packed with some of the strongest songwriting Jester have ever produced — the restless longing of I Want You, the aching introspection of In The Meantime and the cathartic rush of Little Run Down all pointing towards a band capable of far bigger things.
It should have propelled them onto another level, but like countless emerging artists at the time, the arrival of COVID brought everything to a standstill, swallowing whatever momentum the Album had built.
The years that followed were largely silent. Aside from the occasional live appearance, Jester slipped quietly into the background, balancing family life, work and the realities that so often pull independent bands away from the studio.
Now, Jester are finally back with their new single Talking in Your Sleep, taken from their yet-to-be-released album What Goes Up Must Come Down — and it may well be the strongest thing they’ve ever released. Built around the band’s familiar wash of delay-soaked guitars and carried by the sublime vocals of Colly Dempsey, the track unfolds with a quiet confidence that feels both fresh and unmistakably familiar.
There’s a softness to Talking in Your Sleep that Jester have only hinted at before, trading some of their earlier urgency for something more immersive and emotionally restrained. But beneath the track’s dreamy haze lies a genuinely massive chorus — the kind that lingers long after the final note fades.
There are whispers that this could be the band’s final album but Talking in Your Sleep sounds far too alive for that. Had this arrived during indie’s golden era, it would have been a certifiable Top 10 hit. Instead, it lands in an age where algorithms matter more than guitar bands — a reminder of how many great artists now go unnoticed.
Still, tracks this strong have a way of cutting through the noise. And if Talking in Your Sleep is anything to go by, Jester’s story feels far from over. pre-save HERE
Recorded with Martin Quinn at Jam Studios, Kells, Co, Meath
Jester Are
Colly Dempsey, Mark O’ Dwyer, Tomas Maher, Niall O’ Shaughnessy and David Fitzpatrick.