Message To Bears RELEASES Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts album

SHARES ‘Capsize’

ALBUM RELEASE DATE: 18 July 2025

LABEL: Lost Birds Records

LISTEN: Message To Bears – Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts

Stream/Download: Message To Bears – Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts

“The project sees Jerome Alexander, known for his emotive, genre-blurring sound, expanding his cinematic palette across a breathtaking body of work that bridges ambient orchestral textures with intimate folktronica.”

Magnetic Magazine

“A semblance of luminous piano chords and harmonised vocal flourishes, the track gradually builds into a momentous crescendo, marking some of the artist’s most profound work to date.”

CLASH Magazine

“’Half Light’ blends orchestral and ambient elements, capturing moments of vulnerability and hope in a stunning sonic journey.”

NOTION Magazine

[On ‘I’ll Lead You There’]: “It has a cinematic feel in its ebb and flow of energy, and the multilevel balance of minimal lyrics versus densely textured sounds, and digital versus live instrumentation makes for a multi-faceted, ever-engaging trip.”

Stereogum

“Sparkling acoustic guitars weave around heart-stopping cellos and haunting ambient effects to give the audio equivalent of dew-drops on grass turning into jewels at sunrise. Simply stunning.” 

Mixmag

“Serenity, my friend. Serenity.”

Teen Vogue

London-born, Bristol-based composer and producer Message To Bears shared his latest studio album, Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts, on July 18th 2025 via Lost Birds Records. The luscious album received support from acclaimed online publication Magnetic Magazine. Message To Bears is the musical alias of English composer and multi-instrumentalist Jerome Alexander, renowned for crafting emotive, cinematic soundscapes that blend ambient, folk, post-rock, and electronic influences. With over 200 million streams across platforms, Message To Bears has supported Nils Frahm at Oxford’s historic Holywell Music Room and Olafur Arnalds at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, performed at Green Man Festival ahead of legends like Mumford and Sons, Flaming Lips, Beirut, The Tallest Man on Earth and Efterklang.

Message To Bears has received national airplay from prominent BBC Radio 6 presenters including Guy Garvey, Tom Robinson, and Nitin Sawhney, as well as BBC Radio 3’s Afrodeutsche, Radio X’s John Kennedy, RTÉ 2FM in Ireland and NPR in the US. He has also gained further local and international support from stations such as BBC Gloucestershire, BBC Wiltshire, BBC Somerset, BBC Radio Bristol, and KEXP (Seattle, US). His music has been featured in a range of publications, including Vulture, Stereogum, Teen Vogue, CLASH Magazine, NOTION, Music Radar, The Line of Best Fit, and Mixmag, among others.

Since his 2007 debut EP1, which sold out instantly, Message To Bears has released several acclaimed albums, including Departures (2009), Folding Leaves (2012), Maps, Carved From Tides, and Constants.

Known for his lush arrangements and atmospheric style, his music has been featured across film, television, advertising, and video games worldwide. Notably, his work appeared in the iconic game Life is Strange alongside artists such as Mogwai, Local Natives, Foals, José González, and Alt-J. His compositions have also been included in popular Netflix series like Virgin River and Warrior Nun.

Influenced by a range of artists from Explosions In the Sky to Bon Iver to Ry X to José González, Message To Bears crafts a beautiful blend of Folktronica and Modern Classical music. Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts is a breathtaking body of work with sounds ranging from ambient orchestral to folktronica sure to ensnare fans of Sufjan Stevens, Novo Amor, and Bon Iver.

Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts is a sweeping blend of ambient orchestral soundscapes and folktronic detail, offering a deeply emotive listening experience that drifts between intimacy and vastness. The focus track, ‘Capsize’, is a beautiful work of ambient folktronica exploring the tension between holding on and letting go. Rich layers of acoustic instrumentation – strings, piano, muted brass – intertwine with delicate electronic textures, ghostly choral fragments, and atmospheric field recordings to create a sense of movement through emotional terrain. Subtle yet cinematic, the album evokes themes of transformation, grounding, and quiet resilience, all delivered with a sense of craftsmanship that feels both timeless and profoundly human.

Speaking on the album, Message To Bears told us: “‘Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts’ is deeply meaningful to me—its intention is to represent the transition from chaos to peace, including all the difficult moments in-between. The album was recorded entirely in my home studio, blending vintage and analogue equipment with modern technology, utilising samplers, acoustic instruments, micro-tape machines alongside classical instrumentation.”

Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts Album Tracklist:

1. Turbines Over Oceans

2. Knots Tied in Grass

3. Disquiet

4. Open Lungs

5. Half Light

6. Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts

7. Capsize

8. River Calls

9. Last Wave

10. Awake, Far Away

                                                     

Follow Message To Bears:

Instagram – Facebook – X – Soundcloud – Youtube – Spotify