Today, Sleeper’s Bell — the Chicago folk duo of Blaine Teppema (vocals/guitar) and Evan Green (guitar) — announce their debut album, Clover, out February 7th via Angel Tapes / Fire Talk, and present its lead single/video, “Over.” Clover presents Teppema’s long-standing full-band vision for Sleeper’s Bell, and assembles Chicago’s finest as her backing band to present the songs she has cultivated for a decade. The resulting debut spit-shines dive bar wisdom into polished folk-rock.
Conceived as a practice in writing letters to her younger self, the songs on Clover mine Teppema’s teenage journals and respond to those entries from the perspective of an adult trying to heal. Clover offers 9 snapshots captured through a youthful lens but colored by time, as Teppema has poured over lyrics, reshaped songs, and recruited collaborators to the project. Its credits capture the current iteration of Chicago’s ever-reliable DIY community: Jack Henry (Friko, Horsegirl, Free Range) served as recording engineer and session drummer, Gabe Bostick (aka Plant Matter) contributed piano and backing vocals, Leo Paterniti assisted on mixing, and all three helped produce the record’s crystalline sound under Green’s direction. Mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Chris Gelin, Clover is an assemblage of chosen and real family, with Blaine’s dad, Jeff Teppema, lending his fiddle skills to a few tracks.
Lead single “Over” — which premiered via FLOOD — is " puts Blaine’s sharp songwriting on full-display, taking notes from Andy Shauf to help guide her track’s emotional resonance. “If it was all a dream // maybe I could just scream and then I’d wake up next to you,” she sings atop acoustic folk strumming and propulsive percussion, before Evan breaks into a steely shred. “But I’m just a three-leaf clover // and I think you found the one // So I’ll move on.” It’s instantly catchy, an immediate melody that is at once familiar and fresh.
Watch Sleeper's Bell's "Over" Video
Sleeper’s Bell began as a solo vehicle for Teppema, resulting in her “tender” (Chicago Reader) 2021 debut EP Umarell. Shortly after its release, Teppema welcomed lighting director Evan Green as her principal guitarist. The two’s friendship — developed through years of rehearsing, writing, and playing live around their hometown of Chicago, Illinois — served as a guiding light through the process of arranging and recording Clover. These songs date back as far as 10 years, having changed form countless times throughout the years and Green’s addition. As the duo continued steeping themselves in the city’s storied independent scene, their newfound momentum expanded initial conceptions of what Sleeper’s Bell could be.
The 9 songs on Clover began as intimate expressions of Teppema, who works as a children’s librarian by day, and have grown into beloved melodies around Chicago’s many independent venues. These songs have yet to see their proper release, but you’ll often catch local crowds singing along to every word. It’s a testament to the ability of Sleeper’s Bell to craft melodies that permanently embed themselves in your mind, and to foster environments safe enough for Teppema (and audiences) to sing her innermost thoughts out loud. Lifted from the pages of journals that span travel, heartbreak, and therapy work, Clover interrogates past behaviors with the wisdom and kindness that could only come with living through it.
“Looking through old journals and drawings and photographs wasn’t easy for me to see, but very necessary nonetheless,” Teppema says. “I tried to bounce between songs I wrote as a teenager and songs I wrote about being a teenager, pulling lyrics from the letters, assuring her that I forgive her, that I understand her, and that she has a beautiful life to look forward to.”
Clover Tracklist
1. Clover
2. Bad Word
3. Phone Call
4. Room
5. Road Song
6. Bored
7. Passing Through
8. Over
9. Hey Blue
Sleeper’s Bell Tour Dates
Sat. Nov. 30 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Fri. Dec. 6 - Evanston, IL @ Space
Thu. Jan. 16 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas *
* opening for Lutalo