Sleep | 3 to 5 BOPS

Sleep: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 11 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Alicia Keys, All Time Low, Ava Max, Måneskin, and Sam Smith.

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 11^th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with SLEEP in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Alicia Keys, 🎙 All Time Low, 🎙 Ava Max, 🎙 Måneskin, and 🎙 Sam Smith. Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Ava Max, “Sleepwalker”

💿 Diamonds & Dancefloors • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2023

“Zero to sixty from the second we touch / You say you’re fallin’ in love.” Ooh wee! Following such a strong initial musical statement on 💿 Diamonds & Dancefloors (🎵 “Million Dollar Baby”), 🎵 “Sleepwalker” has a tough act to follow.  Ultimately, it keeps the momentum of the sophomore LP by pop standout, 🎙 Ava Max, going. Max is backed by slick production (🎛 Cirkut, Jonas Jeberg, and Abraham Dertner), anchored by an infectious beat and set in a minor key (a consistent trait of the album). Max delivers truly sultry vocals, with her best moments occurring in the catchy, tuneful chorus: “I’ll turn you to a / Sleepwalker / Dream of me wherever you go / If I take you home, I’ll turn you to a…” The instrumental section also marks a huge pro, recalling the 1980s through and through. All told, “Sleepwalker” marks one of many surefire winners from Diamonds & Dancefloors.

2. Måneskin, “DON’T WANNA SLEEP”

💿 RUSH! • 🏷 Epic • 📅 2023 

“Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance until I die / Medicate myself ‘till my head is in the sky.” Woo! 🎵 “Don’t Wanna Sleep” marks a hard partying joint from 💿 RUSH!, the third album, and international debut LP by Italian rock band, 🎙 Måneskin. Regardless of if “This is the shittiest party,” 🎙 Damiano David (😍) makes it clear, “No, no, no, no, I’m not leaving / Gonna get my feet on the ceiling / Gonna drink away all my feelings / And no, it’s not gonna heal me.” WORD. Hmm, that makes this loud joint take on a slightly different meaning.  The partying is a mask 😷 – not a logical solution for his issues.  Even so, David’s pain and partying prove to be our utmost listening pleasure (“Making love with danger / Is not gonna heal me but / At least I like it”).

3. Sam Smith, “How Do You Sleep?”

💿 Love Goes • 🏷 Capitol • 📅 2020

“I’m done hatin’ myself for feelin’ / I’m done cryin’ myself awake.” Those lyrics excerpted appear on, 🎵 “How Do You Sleep?” from 💿 Love Goes, the third studio album by 🎙 Sam Smith. Lyrically, thematically, and vocally, the 🏆 Academy and Grammy award winner is true to themself, while the production (🎛 Ilya Salmanzadeh) is sleeker and more modern compared to past releases.  Smith continues to do a fine job singing about matters of the heart.  The pre-chorus and chorus are where Smith’s bread is buttered.  In the catchy pre-chorus, they ask, “What have I become now / Lookin’ through your phone / Oh now, love to you is just a game…” After continuing to build up the case against their lover (or whatever he is to Smith), they drop the crowning achievement, the chorus:

“Baby, how do you sleep when you lie to me?

All that shame and all that danger

I’m hopin’ that my love will keep you up tonight

Baby, how do you sleep when you lie to me?

All that fear and all that pressure

I’m hopin’ that my love will keep you up tonight.”

Appears in 🔻:

• BED 🛏: 5ive Songs No. 41 (2021)
• HOW: 3BOPS No. 2 (2020)
• 15 Ultra Compelling HOW Songs

4. All Time Low, “Sleepwalking”

💿 Tell Me I’m Alive • 🏷 Fueled By Ramen LLC • 📅 2023

Seven words: “Feel like I’m sleepwalking when you’re gone.” Okay, 🎙 Alex Gaskarth and 🎙 All Time Low – if you say so! 🎵 “Sleepwalking” arrived as an early promo single (in 2022) from 💿 Tell Me I’m Alive, the band’s ninth album (2023).  Slickly produced (Gaskarth, 🎛 Andrew Goldstein, and Zakk Cervini), “Sleepwalking” combines enthusiastic guitars as well as colorful synths – ample fuel for the fire of Gaskarth vocally.  Even in his mid-30s, the English-born American singer retains a youthful sensibility that has helped the band be popular over the years.  Hard to believe the band is two decades old! Despite the age, the themes still fit that emo-tinged script, such as “You’re onto something else / I’m a picture left on your shelf” (pre-chorus), “Medicated ‘til my brain goes numb / Like a dream where your feet won’t run” (chorus), and “It’s all fun and games ‘til you don’t wanna play now” (bridge). Still, I’d argue the boys of All Time Low have also managed to age gracefully.

5. Alicia Keys, “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart”

💿 The Element of Freedom • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 2009

“Even if you were a million miles away / I could still feel you in my bed / Near me, touch me, feel…” Clearly, for 🎙 Alicia Keys, this man, no longer in her life, was truly special. His absence has affected her tremendously.  Despite her infatuation, she also makes it clear he was NO GOOD (“And all the time, you were tellin’ me lies”). In the chorus of the chill but emotional 🎵 “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,” a highlight from her 2009 album, 💿 The Element of Freedom, Keys asserts, “So tonight, I’m gonna find a way to make it without you /… I’m gonna hold on to the times that we had tonight /… Have you ever tried sleeping with a broken heart?” Notably, Keys sings coolly with a beautiful tone, complementing a more modern brand of R&B lying somewhere between pop and contemporary soul.  Written alongside 🎼 ✍ Jeff Bhasker and Plain Pat, Bhasker produced this intriguing gem.

Sleep: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 11 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Atlantic, Capitol, Epic, Fueled By Ramen LLC, Sony Music Entertainment; cottonbro studio via Pexels]