Maps return with Sleep Today from forthcoming EP due out next month

Maps have released the new single Sleep Today, the first song taken from a new EP which is due out next month.

Maps – AKA Northamptonshire composer and producer James Chapman – recorded the song at his studio during the making of his most recent album Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. which was released last year.

This was followed by additional recording sessions with the renowned Brussels ensemble Echo Collective, the percussionist and drummer Matt Kelly and vocalist Rachel Kenedy.

Sleep Today wasn’t included on the album as Chapman felt it seemed to stand alone from the rest of the record.

Fast forward to November 2020 and the joyous mood of Sleep Today and its “positive message about trying to come to terms with the present and looking forward to better times,” feels the perfect antidote to this year.

The new single will feature on a forthcoming four-track EP alongside a remix of the track by Brighton’s The Go! Team.

Chapman adds: “Music has always been a therapy for me and I definitely have an escapist mentality when creating and listening to songs.

“Sleep Today is a song that always lifts my spirits when I listen to it and that is the feeling I was trying to evoke when writing and recording the track.”

The new EP follows a remix series that ran during the summer of 2020, Colours. Remixed. Time. Loss. which boasted a line-up including Stephen Morris, TVAM, GLOK (aka Andy Bell from Ride), Russian Linesman, Barry Adamson, Polly Scattergood, C Duncan, Simon Fisher Turner, A Certain Ratio and more.

Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. was described as his most ambitious to date, the album saw the Mercury Music-nominated artist working with Echo Collective and embark on a series of performances that included a sold-out show at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room.

Sleep Today is out now via the regular streaming platforms.

For more information, visit https://mute.ffm.to/maps-sleeptoday