A knock on the door from a canvassing Tory. An unexpected tax bill. A conversation with a neighbour when in the grips of a titanic hangover. Surprises are not always welcome or enjoyable. Most of the time they are actually just an irritant. A blip in your daily life needs to be hunched over the daily grind just trying to get to bed. Sometimes though…..sometimes you have the phone call off a mate you have not spoken to in years. Your partner announces they’ve bought you a pack of bourbon biscuits. Or a band who you have long admired suddenly release (I will not use the d**p word and if I do please feel free to call me out on it) their highly anticipated fourth album. An album you kind of knew was being percolated but you were completely unaware it was cooked, tested and ready to be served. THESE surprises are so welcome even Thom might change the chorus.
Quick bit of background for those that have not been paying attention. Beak> are a trio based around Bristol consisting of Will Young, Billy Fuller and Geoff Barrow (original member Matt Loveridge left to follow his solo projects after the band’s celebrated second album >>). Their third album >>> was the first with Will and it saw Beak> crack further through the 6Music playlist with songs such as ‘Brean Down’ and ‘Alle Sauvage’ getting good rotation. Throw in a touring schedule that saw them pick up new fans with every lap and you would assume that now we are going to get the ‘BIG” Beak> album. The album that is full of radio snag and hook, produced with that punchy sheen that shouts “play me-play me-play me DJ”. >>>> should be their Spotify classic album. You know the one that a load of other artists have made where they chase the playlist algorithm pound coin. You would assume that……and if you assumed that then you are definitely new to the Beak> arena because this trio of musicians are always looking to swerve expectations and follow the (motorik) beat of their own drum. Instead of radio blah blah we get an album that the band have declared is “one for the heads (not headphone music..an important distinction)”. Recorded in part in rural Wales and Invada studios, >>>> is the sound of a band daring its audience to follow it or get off the bus. They are saying “come and play with us Danny” as they guide us through a psych-prog cycle of bad brown acid, distorted boundaries and emotional hymnals.
The tone is set instantly on opener Strawberry Lines which is dedicated to Alfie Barrow (the star on the album’s excellent prog cover) as it grabs you with mournful church keys before the vocals come in far clearer than they have on previous Beak> albums. In fact, all through >>>> we get a real sense of what the lyrics are. Does this mean the band feels more confident in their words? I hope so because this is a new feature that helps set this album apart from its predecessors and it is a path I hope they follow. ‘Strawberry Lines’ soon morphs into a rhythmic anthem full of skittering snare and fluid bass. This is the most emotional the band have sounded since When We Fall from their Kaeb EP.
Once the next song, ‘The Seal’ emerges you get a sense of where this album is going to take you as it feels like a natural continuation from the climax of ‘Strawberry Lines’ and whilst it feels more akin to their previous works there is that new clarity of sound that punches you around the head. Speaking of punches to the head…..
Windmill Hill is the first moment on the album which takes the knees from under you as its wobbling, time-slip patterns make you dizzy and queasy and when the vocals come in it is as if you are listening to the bastard child of ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ and ‘Silver Machine’. Approach this devilish delight with caution.
Other surprises are scattered throughout whether that be the grunge-riff slash that brings ‘Denim’ to a climax or the extremely beautiful Crosby, Stills and Nash area that ‘Hungry Are We’ beds down into before it splinters into a myriad of directions that lights up the room you are in. We even get a funky shuffle with Ah Yeh (maybe a response to their single ‘Oh Know’?) which you could imagine being sampled for a future hip-hop classic.
The home stretch of the album features the swaggering ‘Bloody Miles’ which, if you are not careful, could induce an involuntary bout of hip-shaking, the industrial synth snap of ‘Secrets’ which is a true album highlight as it utilises a nagging, synth pulse and steel pad crash to drive a synth-pop echo from the past to the future via your now subservient mind.
So how would you finish an album where you’ve decided to go back to your basic desire for experimentation and a turn away from radio success? You would of course create an almost eight minute zombie shuffle plod into what sounds like the actual deepest corners of dank basements and crumbling castles. ‘Cellophane’ is the perfect name for this song as it smothers you and takes away your breath, sunlight and optimism. It is heavy, warped and often frightening yet once again the band surprises us for the last minute with a change in tone and texture that…well I will leave that up to you to find out because no one likes a party pooper.
>>>> is the album that you may not know you needed from Beak> but it is the album that they had to make. It is an album so well produced that it slides in amongst the cracks in your walls and locks you within its boundaries. It is the dark and heavy side of prog and psychedelia. Beak> are back with an album that reclaims the phrase “surprise surprise” back from a certain red headed Tory and injects those essential elements back into your life…soul, rhythm, thought, heart, fear and joy. Stay on board because this is getting really really interesting.
Beak> are going to be touring in November where they will be playing the album in full. Keep an eye on their socials for further details.
BEAK> socials: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | X
Review by Simon Tucker
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Forgive me for indulging in my own sentimentality here as I paste my comment from discogs…..
“The charity shop round the corner has this highly intelligent volunteer who’s obviously you know but I pulled him up a few years back about taking all the good cds. He said he just got a bunch in and do U like massive attack? I said I prefer Portishead. He said listen to Beak which has been percolating to this point and they’ve done it here. All for me it seems because this is fucked, special, both sides, perfect soundtrack for micro travel. Moral of the story even if you come out with nothing you’ll come out with something”