Sleeper - O2 Academy - 28th April 2022

Sleeper are a band built for the soundtrack, whether that be for the mid-nineties youth, or for the nightclub scene in cult classic Trainspotting. Their stage – or set – is lit by a searching limelight as “You Only Live Twice”, by Nancy Sinatra plays to announce their beginning. Sleeper have always had a taste for the cinematic, after all.

Frontman Louise Wener may have stood outside of the spotlight for a few years, but her entry back to centre-stage as she embarks on Sleeper’s 25-year anniversary tour of their hit album, The It Girl, shows she’s as eponymous as ever. Donning a tee-shirt featuring the original “It Girl”, 1920s starlet Clara Bow, Wener captures the crowd’s attention with the ease of a chat show host. She is a veteran of the rock star variety.

While their classic songs like “Sale of the Century”, “Nice Guy Eddie”, and “Inbetweener” spark the crowd most, even the deep cuts of Sleeper’s discography are a charming centrepiece. The irony of songs like Dress Like Your Mother, with lyrics like, “your parents didn’t even notice”, is not lost on the band. Time has changed them; Wener’s newfound breathiness suggests that each lyric comes to her spontaneously, as she sings it. It is a captivating sound; the audience hang on her words like she’s slipping them a secret.

As much as the audience seem to appreciate this concert – a “back by popular demand” tour of epic proportions – it seems that the band enjoy it even more. Even after 25 years, this experience of having their own words sung back to them has clearly not lost its novelty.

However, the band are at their most innovative when they perform a medley of their hit cover of Blondie’s “Atomic” - which features on the Trainspotting soundtrack - and of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. The crowd, typically quiet and appreciative, dance along like the ‘90s never left. For a few minutes, youth can be found in a rock song.

An exciting and fresh performance, one thing seems clear; Sleeper have been awoken, and their curfew isn’t any time soon.