"The Clarity" is a single by the American rock band

Sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

. The song was released digitally for free on July 21, 2014 through the cable network

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

's 2014 weekly singles series. The release of "The Clarity" also marks the first release of newly recorded material in almost 20 years. Later, it was re-released on February 10, 2017 via

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include arti ...

as a 12" vinyl pressing and recut by Adam Gonsalves. In 2021, it was remixed and reissued again on the EP ''Iommic Life'' via

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

. Sleep reformed in 2009 and began performing live in addition to writing new riffs for future songs "sporadically". Adult Swim approached the band about releasing a new song as a part of its weekly singles series, and Sleep wrote "The Clarity" in "a couple days" separate from the other new material it had been working on. The band also commented that the song, "is an exercise in musical stream of thought, as all proper music should be" and that the lyrics are a "follow-up to a lifetime of marijuana enjoyment." "The Clarity" was generally well received by music critics. Writing for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, Lars Gotrich wrote: "It captures Sleep at its heaviest and weediest, and despite the puff of smoke that pervades these 10 minutes, it's the band's cleanest-sounding recording." Colin Joyce writing for ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' wrote: "Built, like many of the band's best tracks, around Cisneros' thunderous, distorted basslines and the bleary haze of Pike's Tony Iommi indebted guitar snarls, 'The Clarity' hearkens straight back to the drone-y, stone-y tunes that the band was working on when they were teenagers." Writing for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', Josiah Hughes wrote: "'The Clarity' is a heavy journey through meaty riffs, mid-tempo drums and plenty of drug references. At 10 minutes in length, it's also a perfect song to turn on and zone out to."

Personnel

;Sleep *

Al Cisneros Al Cisneros (born September 23, 1973) is an American musician. He is the lead singer and bassist for stoner rock/ doom metal bands Sleep and Om. He also was a member of Shrinebuilder and Asbestosdeath (the precursor to Sleep) and has put out n ...

– vocals, bass *

Matt Pike Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

– guitars *

Jason Roeder Jason Roeder is the drummer of the Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Ar ...

– drums ;Production *John Golden – mastering *Adam Gonsalves – lacquer cut (reissue) *David V. D'Andrea – artwork (etching) *Noah Landis – recording

References

External links

Singles Program 2014
at

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarity Adult Swim singles Sleep (band) songs 2014 songs Williams Street Records singles