Kevin Bronson on October 22nd, 2020

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Southern California duo Inspired & the Sleep — songwriter/producer Max Greenhalgh and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Outcault — craft limber, lovelorn indie-pop marked by Greenhalgh’s airy croon and warm-blanket production. Their self-titled debut album even has a song titled “Feels,” and it should.

That album came out in March, just before the lockdown drained the life out of the live music industry. It was especially a punch in the gut to Inspired & the Sleep, releasing a feel-good record when everybody was feeling shocked and dismayed — not to mention the fact that the album (which also got a release via Vinyl Moon) finally arrived six years after Greenhalgh and Outcault started the project.

It’s a bit ironic that the album leads with a song titled “Right Place, Right Time” — although here, Inspired & the Sleep wax wistful about the end of a relationship. The video, directed by Khai Dombroe, finds the aggrieved party trying to heal the bruises by taking a road trip with friends.

“‘Right Place, Right Time’ is our anthem for heartbreak and forgiveness as it relates to time and location,” Greenhalgh says. “Within the film, an individual who, in a state of turmoil over his feelings for another, sets off on a desert adventure with close friends to find the ‘Right Place, Right Time’ he is looking for. The video was filmed in various desert regions of California/Nevada and a portion was shot on the Vegas Strip when it was shut down during quarantine (social distancing was practiced).”

Since it’s the desert, there are some shenanigans involved, of course. Because what’s a little heist between friends?

||| Watch: The video for “Right Place, Right Time”

||| Also: Stream the whole album here

||| Previously: “Stay,” “Die Slow”