by Ben Hogwood

Beak> have delivered a surprise release of their first album in six years today. The aptly titled >>>> is released by Invada and Temporary Residence Ltd

The band – Geoff Barrow (of Portishead), Billy Fuller (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) and Will Young (Moon Gangs), explained the reason for their surprise delivery.

“At its core we always wanted it to be head music (music for the ‘heads’, not headphone music), listened to as an album, not as individual songs. This is why we are releasing this album with no singles or promo tracks.”

They have also spoken about the genesis of >>>>. “The recording and writing initially began in a house called Pen Y Bryn in Talsarnau, Wales in the fall out from the weirdness of the Covid days. Remote and with only ourselves and the view of Portmeirion in the distance we got to work. With the opening track, “Strawberry Line” (our tribute to our dear furry friend Alfie Barrow, who appears on the album’s cover) as the metronomic guide for the album, we then resumed recording, as before, at Invada studios in Bristol, whilst still touring around Europe and North/South America. After playing hundreds of gigs and festivals over the years we felt that touring had started to influence our writing to the point we weren’t sure who we were anymore. So we decided to go back to the origins of where we were at on our first album. With zero expectations and just playing together in a room.“

Arcana will be reviewing the new album shortly.

Published post no.2,192 – Tuesday 28 May 2024