“Swallow” by Sleeper

"Swallow" is where Sleeper started: their debut single on Indolent in 1994, after the Alice in Vain EP, written by singer and guitarist Louise Wener with guitarist Jon Stewart and produced by Paul Corkett. It came out on seven-inch and CD backed with studio takes of "Twisted" and "One Girl Dreaming", both from the live set, and the band played their first Peel Session to push it. By year's end it had landed in John Peel's Festive Fifty.

Wener says it gets misread. Forget the smutty take on the title: she called it a sad song about a relationship falling apart, and about someone taking all your secrets until they know everything about you, the title's image being the metaphor. The next year the band re-cut it, with "Twisted", for their debut album Smart, where Stephen Street takes the mix credit.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.