*Comes with distributor exclusive 350gsm recycled card insert featuring more beautiful artwork by in house designer Lewis McLean* Recorded last April following their debut tour of Japan, the first LP from Burn Into Sleep and Dream Skills is a compelling fusion of their distinct creative approaches. Drawn from two expansive improvisational sessions, the album’s eight tracks traverse a vivid sonic landscape—ranging from neon-drenched nocturnes and taut industrial rhythms to knotty free improvisation and spectral spoken-word vignettes. Dream Skills is the solo project of Donald Grant McLean, shaped by the influence of Pan Sonic, Autechre, and early electronic pioneers. His last album under the moniker was recorded at Electrical Audio by Steve Albini and features G.W. Sok—former frontman of Dutch punk provocateurs The Ex—who also collaborated with Action Beat on several releases, the band Don founded and helmed over the last twenty years.

Burn Into Sleep is the improvisational duo of David McLean and poet Lauren McLean (née Bolger). David, known for his long-running project Aging, has performed and recorded with avant-garde luminaries including Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Charles Hayward (This Heat), Turkish free-jazz ensemble Konstrukt, and British improvisers such as Colin Webster, Adam Fairhall, David Birchall and Mark Hanslip’ Lauren previously led the no-wave collective Locean, releasing two albums via Texas-based Artificial Head Records, and has collaborated with Weasel Walter, Lydia Lunch, and Thurston Moore. The duo continue to record and perform with key members of Britian’s improv scene and led a large ensemble performance and recording session that will appear in 2025.

Both projects recently completed back-to-back tours of Japan in 2024 and 2025, performing alongside icons like Tatsuya Yoshida, Shoji Hano, and Tetuzi Akiyama, as well as emerging voices in Japanese improvisation including Riuichi Daijo, Masatake Abe, Kokichi Yanagisawa, Masahiro Tobita and Koari Komura.

Utilising tenor saxophone, Wurlitzer, acoustic and electric guitars, samples, and synthesizer experiments, the McLean brothers sculpted a nocturnal suite of music that cradles Lauren’s striking, singular spoken word presence—intimate and hauntingly close, as if whispered directly into the listener’s ear. The album was recorded and mixed by acclaimed producer Andrew PM Hunt (Dialect) at his Liverpool home studio, and mastered specifically for vinyl by Dirk Serries. One of the best sounding records the label has ever issued, ‘I Carried You For Years And The Deers Are Still Hungry’ is a stark, literary trip that will haunt you long after the needle has been lifted.