Rarely has "Your music put me to sleep" been viewed as a compliment, but that's the goal of actor Jeff Bridges' latest collection of songs. The actor's new album Sleeping Tapes makes no qualms that its goal is to lull the listener to bed and features the actor's spoken word pieces and guided meditation atop ambient soundscapes and sound collages, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bridges worked with True Detective composer Keefus Ciancia and sound engineer Doug Sax on the album.
Sleeping Tapes, made in collaboration with website builder Squarespace, is available now at DreamingWithJeff.com as a free stream or pay-what-you-want download, with all proceeds benefiting the No Kid Hungry organization. Limited edition cassette tapes and gold-colored vinyl versions are also available and the actor is auctioning off five autographed copies ofSleeping Tapes to raise money for the cause. An ad for Bridges' album and Squarespace will air during this Sunday's Super Bowl.
"The world is filled with too many restless people in need of rest – that's why I filled my sleeping tapes with intriguing sounds, noises and other things to help you get a good night's rest," Bridges writes of his 15-track new album. The collection of songs are a staggering departure from Bridges' previous country music-inspired releases, including 2011's T Bone Burnett-produced Jeff Bridges and his 2014 live album with the Abiders.
On "Goodmorning, Sweetheart," a soft-spoken early morning conversation between the actor and wife Susan, complete with the sounds of breakfast being prepared, is taped and juxtaposed with a faint ambient drone. "The Raven" is not a re-reading of the Edgar Allan Poe poem but instead focuses on Bridges' own tale accompanied by the sounds of a thunderstorm. But perhaps the strangest track on Sleeping Tapes is "IKEA," with Bridges' multi-tracking his voice to haunting effect while talking about how – after death – he wants his body cremated and put in a satellite orbiting the planet.
"While working on the Sleeping Tapes album, we put in some long hours," Bridges told the Wall Street Journal. "Listening back to our day’s works, I'd often drift off. I'd wake up and smile saying, 'This stuff works.'"