M U S I C
B I O
Ambient instrumental post-rock ensemble Joy Wants Eternity originated in a Seattle basement fall 2003 as a gathering of several musicians experimenting with instrumental walls of noise. The massive orchestra eventually pared down to a five piece and by summer 2004, Joy Wants Eternity recorded their first EP, Must You Smash Your Ears Before You Learn to Listen with Your Eyes, officially issued in spring 2005. The band's first full-length, You Who Pretend to Sleep, was available by May 2007. After airplay on several radio stations around the US, and increasing international sales, the band signed to Japanese Label XTAL in 2008 to re release You Who Pretend to Sleep. They are also planning an EP release on noise/rock imprint Elevation Recordings later this year.
R. I. Y. L.
Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono,
Godspeed You Black Emperor
N O T A B L E
- Joy Wants Eternity's music has been featured on NPR's "Sound Opinions" talk show, and the movie Metropole, and have had songs licensed to Sharps Barber Shop / Personal Care Products
“You Who Pretend to Sleep” by Joy Wants Eternity
Voted #19 – Top Instrumental Releases of 2007
The Silent Ballet
Voted #22 – Top Northwest Releases of 2007
Three Imaginary Girls
Record of the Week –
Now Like Photographs / Radio K in Minneapolis
“Existences Rust” Song of the Day
KEXP 90.3 in Seattle
Nominated Best New Artist 2006
Seattle Weekly (Seattle Weekly Music Awards)
- They have shared the stage with the likes of Vampire Weekend, Stellastarr*, Sea Wolf, Dark Meat, 120 Days, Stars of Track and Field, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Tiny Vipers and many more
P H O T O S
Q U O T E S A N D P R E S S
“Whether it comes from glorious shards of guitar feedback or from the layers of effects and keyboards, the band sucks you in at every nimble twist and turn… You Who Pretend To Sleep is as engrossing and well done as instrumental post-rock gets in 2007. The band deserves to be mentioned in the upper echelon of bands playing this style from now on. You Who Pretend To Sleep is simply that good.”
- Sound As Language
“ Joy Wants Eternity has created an exceptionally beautiful and powerful sounding record that will wrap itself around the listener for eight solid tracks. I can’t recommend this one enough for those that enjoy both post-rock and shoegaze; it’s a great mixture of the two that will surely please fans of either.”
- Built On A Weak Spot
“You Who Pretend to Sleep displays an ability to create staggeringly beautiful epic imagery, but their epic strive isn’t for vast landscapes like fjords and valleys and so forth, but rather the nocturnalism of city lights and moonlit skies.”
- Mac Nguyen, Silent Ballet
“Crushing, dense, and yet never too much for the ears, this is epic instrumental rock that will never leave you "waiting for the good part." And yet it's still light enough to float on the clouds and sun rays that grace the album cover.”
- Now Like Photographs
“JWE puts forth music that is enticing to the ears and takes you on a journey of your life... The music is so enriching, profound and full of depth, that you will question how someone can pack so much into one song.”
- Instrumental Analysis
“Joy Wants Eternity commands something that their predecessors don't have, which is the ability to have peaks and valleys in their music allowing for the listener to fully indulge in the sorrow and the joy that their music manifests itself into becoming after several spins.”
- Cause=Time
“ You Who Pretend to Sleep is a sweeping collection of dynamic and vivid shoegazery rock… It's the perfect record to blast through headphones when you just want to lie back and let yourself feel weightless.”
- Megan Seling, The Stranger
“Seattle’s Joy Want Eternity unfurl gasping instrumental freakouts on top of a warmedover bed of guitar swirl and crackling hiss.”
- Ezra Ace Caraeff, Portland Mercury
“I’ll take this as my best discovery in some time… a beautiful soundtrack to our longlost winter here in Seattle.”
- John Richards, KEXP