What started out as Sloths guitarist Kyle Bates’ unassuming bedroom-recording project has evolved into one of Portland’s best and most dynamic heavy bands. Bates’ first official release under the Drowse moniker was last year’s Soon Asleep, a collection of harrowing and washed-out elegies that came with a 40-page, hand-illustrated memoir chronicling the musician’s struggles with mental illness. New EP Memory Bed sees Bates delving deeper into more traditional singer/songwriter territory, a shift best exemplified by the delicate, quintessentially Pacific Northwestern sonics of “Break” and “Memory.” MORGAN TROPER Read our story on Floating Room.