Awake Is the New Sleep

Awake Is the New Sleep is the fifth album by Australian musician Ben Lee, released in 2005. It reached #5 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, becoming his most successful album. It contains the top 40 singles "Gamble Everything for Love" and "Catch My Disease". "Gamble Everything for Love" was also voted number 15 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 while "Catch My Disease" was #2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005. The song "We're All in This Together" was used on several television advertisements in Australia and New Zealand, including Coca-Cola and The Salvation Army Community Services. It was later featured in Industry SuperFunds ad from 2016 to the present.

Awake Is the New Sleep
Studio album by Ben Lee
Released	22 February 2005
Recorded	March−November 2004
Studio	Seagrass Studio Valley Village, Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre	Indie pop
Length	56:54
Label	New West Records (USA) Inertia Distribution (Australia)
Producer	Brad Wood
Ben Lee chronology
hey you. yes you. (2002) Awake Is the New Sleep (2005) Ripe (2007)
Singles from Awake Is the New Sleep
"Gamble Everything for Love" Released: December 2004 "Catch My Disease" Released: April 2005 "Into the Dark" Released: October 2005 "We're All in This Together" Released: April 2006

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	57/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(2.9/10)[3]
Rolling Stone	[4]

At the J Award of 2005, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.^[5]

In October 2010, Awake Is the New Sleep was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.^[6]

Influences

Before writing Awake Is The New Sleep, Lee traveled to India. It was here that he met Sakthi Narayani Amma, who inspired him spiritually and told him he would succeed if he put the message of joy into his music. This was a turning point for Lee. Having experienced criticism for his light heartedness in the past, Lee felt a renewed need to incorporate joy and happiness into his music. Lee also changed his reason for making music, from creating music to get something out of it to creating music as a way to give to others. All of this greatly influenced the music on Awake Is The New Sleep. ^[7]

Track listing

(all songs written by Lee except where noted)

1. "Whatever It Is" – 3:18
2. "Gamble Everything for Love" – 3:21
3. "Begin" – 4:12
4. "Catch My Disease" (Lee, McGowan Southworth) – 4:14
5. "Apple Candy" – 3:22
6. "Ache for You" – 4:05
7. "Into the Dark" – 2:46
8. "No Right Angles" – 3:34
9. "Get Gotten" – 3:07
10. "Close I've Come" – 3:23
11. "The Debt Collectors" – 2:50
12. "We're All in This Together" – 4:39
13. "Light" – 9:48
14. "I'm Willing" – 4:01

Credits

• Ben Lee - vocals, guitar, bass, percussion
• Lara Meyerratken - keyboards, vocals, drums, percussion, "atmosphere"
• McGowan Southworth – guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion
• Brad Wood - drums on tracks 2, 4 and 7; bass; drum programming; saxophone; vocals; percussion
• Jason Schwartzman - drums on tracks 10 and 13
• Eric Gardner - drums on tracks 8 and 12
• Rob Hann - bass on tracks 8 and 12
• Chick Wolverton - percussion

Party Vocals

• Har Mar Superstar
• Jenny Lewis
• Jason Falkner
• Scarlett Chorvatt
• Melanie Sirmons
• Sam Spiegel
• Jason Boesel
• Olivia Asta Wood
• Gracie Garcia
• Katie Mulcahy

^[8]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 21 Chart (2006) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 69

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[12]	2× Platinum	140,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Awake Is The New Sleep by Ben Lee". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
2. Allmusic review
3. "Ben Lee: Awake Is the New Sleep Album Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
4. Rolling Stone review
5. "The J Award 2005". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
6. O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
7. "About". Ben Lee. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
8. Ben Lee - Awake is the New Sleep liner notes. Accessed 6-13-2014.
9. "Australiancharts.com – Ben Lee – Awake Is The New Sleep". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
10. "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2005". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
11. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2006". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
12. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1995 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 26 December 2021.