Today, July 18, 2025, Message To Bears; the alias of London-born, Bristol-based composer Jerome Alexander—unleashes his latest album, Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts, via Lost Birds Records. Known for weaving ambient, folk, post-rock, and electronic threads into cinematic soundscapes, Alexander has racked up over 200 million streams and shared stages with giants like Nils Frahm at Oxford’s Holywell Music Room and Olafur Arnalds at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. He’s also hit the Green Man Festival stage ahead of acts like Mumford and Sons and Flaming Lips. His music has pulsed through airwaves on BBC Radio 6 with spins from Guy Garvey and Tom Robinson, alongside BBC Radio 3’s Afrodeutsche and NPR. Since his debut EP1 sold out in 2007, albums like Departures and Folding Leaves have cemented his rep, with tracks popping up in Netflix’s Virgin River and the cult game Life is Strange.
The album’s centerpiece, ‘Capsize’, melds strings, piano, and muted brass with electronic hums and field recordings, crafting a folktronica vibe that teeters between tension and release. Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts sprawls across ambient orchestral expanses and intricate acoustic layers, channeling a raw, human pulse. It’s a record that nods to Explosions In the Sky and Bon Iver, pulling listeners into a sonic space that’s both grounded and boundless which is perfect for fans of Sufjan Stevens or Novo Amor.
Alexander opened up about the project, saying: “‘Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts’ is deeply meaningful to me—its intention is to represent the transition from chaos to peace, including all the difficult moments in-between. The album was recorded entirely in my home studio, blending vintage and analogue equipment with modern technology, utilising samplers, acoustic instruments, micro-tape machines alongside classical instrumentation.” This DIY ethos shines through, making it a standout in his catalog.
Stream Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts: HERE
Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts Album Tracklist:
1. Turbines Over Oceans
2. Knots Tied in Grass
3. Disquiet
4. Open Lungs
5. Half Light
6. Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts
7. Capsize
8. River Calls
9. Last Wave
10. Awake, Far Away
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