iSound

That big sound of Sleeping At Last, unleashed by three young musicians with souls on fire, whose intensity will stand comparison with Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, R.E.M. and U2 …

… started in a basement somewhere near Chicago. In fact, you can still hear it there, building strength beneath the suburban home where the brothers Ryan and Chad O'Neal were raised and where they continue to live.

With Ryan on guitar, Chad on drums, and friend Dan Perdue on bass, this sound rose from its unlikely nest, escaping first on a self-released EP back in '99, evolving on a follow-up CD a few years later, and now in flight on Ghosts, their Interscope debut. Pulsing bass, insistent rhythm, guitars that chime like carillons and roar like surf in a storm, all of it surging beneath Ryan's soaring vocals: This is the music of Sleeping At Last.

Within that music, visions unfold, of inspiration and hope, of surviving daily strife to "find your soul" and &quo...