Formed in Los Angeles in 2010, Iress have just released their excellent new album Sleep Now, In Reverse (the band’s first release on Church Road records) and its glorious combination of ethereal shoegaze and heavier elements results in a sublime listening experience. To celebrate the release of the album, we caught up with vocalist Michelle Malley to hear all about Sleep Now, In Reverse, the bands forthcoming debut UK tour, and the past, present and future of Iress.
E&D: The new Iress album, Sleep Now, In Reverse is out now. How excited are you to be to be getting out there with this album?
Michelle: We are very, very, excited – that’s an understatement!
E&D: What were the biggest influences on the sound of this record?
Michelle: We were listening to a lot of Beach House and Cocteau Twins, and we are also big fans of Deafheaven. We had a mix of heavy and also dreamy influences. So it was like two worlds meeting. I definitely think that that this album is about the heavy and the soft intertwining.
E&D: Is that mixture what you wanted to explore even further with this album?
Michelle: I think so. I think we went a little heavier on certain parts – like more metal influences – with certain guitar parts that we wrote, and also we added a lot of synths and layers to the songs; so it was a little bit more extreme on each side this time.
E&D: Will you that explore that sound even more in the future?
Michelle: I think so. The metal influences came because with Glenn, our drummer, it was the first time with him writing on the record too, and he has some heavy metal influences; so does Graham, our guitarist. We’ve just been experimenting more with this new line-up, and it’s been really cool.
E&D: Does it feel more established with this new line-up?
Michelle: Yeah, Graham entered the picture two years ago and then Glenn one year ago, and yeah, it does feel more comfortable – and really inspired. It feels really, really good.
E&D: You mentioned the heavier sound there as well. Do you find that the shoegaze sound in your music, combined with your vocals, makes the music of Iress more ethereal?
Michelle: Yeah, I think so. I don’t ever want to lose the shoegaze. I like that. It’s hard to put us in a genre – we have different elements from different genres.
E&D: Did you mean to have a more of a cinematic sound this time around as well?
Michelle: Yeah. Do you hear that in it?
E&D: Yeah, very much so. Have you been happy with how all the new music has been received?
Michelle: Yeah, I think our second single got the most love, which surprised me, but it was exciting. I feel like people are digging it.
E&D: Was it a difficult task selecting singles that you feel are representative of the album and its sound?
Michelle: Yes, I mean, there were some that were obvious, but there was a song that I wanted to release as a single, but we decided about how fast the song starts, the vocals, and how long it is, you have to think about all that stuff sometimes. So, yeah, it is kind of hard. I definitely wanted to pick a couple others, but we had to, ultimately, choose the best options.
E&D: You are coming to the UK for a tour in August. How excited are you to be getting over here and playing live for us?
Michelle: We’re so excited. I just started to really break down the tour, and started to get some things in order, because we’ve been waiting to plan and we can’t plan too far in advance. So it’s getting me really excited. I’ve been reaching out to people about staying places and I’m really excited. None of us has ever been [to the UK], so it’s going to be a really cool experience.
E&D: What are you looking forward to whilst you are over here?
Michelle: I’m just excited to experience a new place. Someone told me that there’s a bar with Black Sabbath painted on the outside of it – I want to go there! I heard there’s a lot of cool metal bars. We have a day off in London, which I’m really excited about, so we’ll explore there. I’m just excited for everything. Honestly, I’m excited to meet new people and hang out with the bands. We’re also gonna play ArcTanGent, so that’ll be a really fun day for sure.
E&D: Are you going to be playing further afield in Europe as well, or is it just strictly the UK this time?
Michelle: We were gonna do more European dates, but we are just sticking with UK this time. But we are planning to come back and do more for sure.
E&D: Was planning the tour a challenging task?
Michelle: Luckily, we have a booking agent, Tyler. He has been a dream come true, and he’s doing all the hard stuff; he booked all the shows for us. So now I’m just trying to figure out, like, a van, a driver and all that stuff. it actually hasn’t been that difficult, knock on wood.
E&D: Who are some of your favourite ever UK bands?
Michelle: Oh my gosh, that’s hard; the Cocteau Twins definitely.
E&D: How are things working out with Church Road records, and how did you hook up with the label?
Michelle: It’s going great. I love Justine, and they’ve been very, very helpful. She told us that she had seen us around throughout the pandemic and stuff – and we had kind of been in touch – and it just kind of happened organically in the last year. It’s been wonderful. I’m excited to meet and hang out with her too.
E&D: You’re playing a few shows before the UK run, including with Blackwater Holylight, and you’ve got a record release party for Sleep Now, In Reverse: are you looking forward to those?
Michelle: Oh my gosh, yes! It’s going to be really fun. It’s also our guitarist, Graham’s birthday for the Blackwater Holylight show, so we’re going to have a whole big shindig; and it’ll be fun to play the new songs. We’re gonna play all the singles, and the release show is gonna be really fun too. We’re playing at a venue we love to play at – The Echo – and that’ll be like our launch party, because we’re gonna leave less than a week after that for the UK.
E&D: Have you thought about playing the new album in full at all?
Michelle: We have thought about doing that. I feel like it would need to be like a whole production. I don’t know if we’re going to do that for the release, but maybe we’ll do it when we get back, because the album is an hour long, and I have these ideas of getting some friends to do some harmonies with me. I want to make it like a whole thing, but I don’t think we’re gonna do that before the tour – but maybe after
E&D: Is the visual aspect and expression of Iress on stage important to you, as well as the music?
Michelle: Oh for sure, we’re getting better and better with that. We just got some new lights that we want to experiment with. I feel like that’s gonna be really huge with our stage performance. I feel like we’re still figuring that stuff out, but we have big visions. All that stuff costs money, so it takes time to dial it in, but we do have a lot of ideas for it, for sure.
E&D: How do you feel the songs from Sleep Now, In Reverse will go over in a live environment?
Michelle: I think it’s going to be really cool. We’re excited to play like some of the heavier ones. Like I said, there’s some of that and I did so many harmonies, and we sense that we really want to play them in full. I just have all these ideas, because there’s so many like cool parts that I don’t want to leave out, but sometimes you just got to play it raw and just skip all that stuff. I think it’s going to be interpreted well, I think it’s going to be going to be a cool vibe, for sure.
E&D: What have been some of your favourite Iress live shows so far?
Michelle: It’s hard because we played some really cool venues in the past, but I feel like I want to focus on the shows we played now with Graham. One that sticks out, actually was during the pandemic; the band was on a bit of a hiatus, just because one of our members had left. So we were kind of in limbo, and I was itching to play a show. I’ve known Graham for years and years, but we reconnected, and I asked him to play this solo show with me; I played it with him and I was overwhelmed with the amount of people that showed up. It was packed! We played the Silver Lake lounge in LA and that really inspired me to revamp Iress. I’m like, we gotta get back together. We gotta get the band together; and then Graham joined, and things just took off from there. So I feel like that was a really memorable show, like a restart of Iress.
E&D: Your voice is very powerful. Who are your greatest influences as a vocalist?
Michelle: Oh, wow. I feel like it stretches way back. When I was younger, I used to say I wanted to be a female Chris Cornell – I love him. It’s hard because I feel like I sing and play heavy music, but I also have this side of me that is influenced by pop artists. I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’ve been dubbed the Adele of Doom!
E&D: How did that feel?
Michelle: I feel like that’s such a big compliment. I grew up listening to The Carpenters, Carole King and stuff like that, so that’s an influence too.
E&D: What is next for Iress, and have you had any thoughts about new music at all?
Michelle: I really want to do an American tour, maybe this winter or spring of next year. We are talking about recording some things to release. I won’t give too much away, but we are talking about recording and touring – we’re not going to stop or slow down for sure!
E&D: What have been some of the highlights of Iress so far, and what do you still want to achieve in the future with the band?
Michelle: I think signing with Church Road and getting this tour has been a huge highlight of our career, because we’ve never been overseas at all. I feel like that’s the biggest highlight so far, and obviously, when we play big venues – like we played the Glass House and the Constellation Room [in California].This tour though, it’s kind of hard to beat. We’re really, really excited and grateful to Church Road for helping us. Also this record: we’re really proud of it. I feel like it’s our best release since we’ve been a band, so hopefully it just gets better and better from here.
Sleep Now, In Reverse is released on July 26 via Church Road Records in the UK and Dune Altar records in the US. It can be purchased and downloaded here on Bandcamp