Bear's Den Debuts Video For LAUREL WREATH, Plus New Album Out 4/26

Acclaimed U.K.-based band Bear's Den is debuting the video for the lead single "Laurel Wreath" from their highly anticipated third album So that you might hear me, which is set for release on April 26 via Rounder Records; watch it here. The video was filmed in Berlin by Brazilian directors Jungle and features refugees from Afghanistan and Morocco.

"Our story takes place in the strange neighborhood of Marzahn-hellensdorf. A stronghold of the Berlin extreme right, it is populated with an influx of immigrants that have settled there over the past century," explains Jungle. "German war returnees, Italian immigrants, Soviet union expatriates, Iranians evacuees, Turkish settlers and more recent Syrian refugees. They all live in the same building complex, Berlin's Plattenbau: giant settlements constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. Social buildings. A human collective. In the private cubicle they call home, there is this underlying feeling of loneliness. Layers and layers of people stashed above each other separated by 50cm walls. Experiencing a silent drama. Sharing only this common feeling of isolation. Other partitions, other universes. Side by side. They are lonely together."

The album's previously released songs, "Fuel on the Fire" and "Blankets of Sorrow," continue to receive critical praise. The Independent raves, "['Fuel on the Fire'] adds glitchy beats to traditional rock instrumentation, all thrumming beneath frontman Andrew Davie's sonorous vocals," while The Wild Honey Pie furthers, "It is obvious from these new singles from the group that their sound is evolving but keeping what has magnificently worked for the band."

So that you might hear me was recorded at several studios in Seattle with producer Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty) and was mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Metronomy). Pairing melodies with poignant and unsettlingly personal lyricism, the need for connection lies at the heart of So that you might hear me.

Band members Davie and Jones explain, "The album started out as an attempt at trying to communicate with someone honestly. Our thoughts are not all rational, not all considered or tied up with ribbons and bows. This album is an attempt to reveal the honest and difficult challenge of communicating with anyone that you really care about."

In support of the release, the band will embark on an extensive run of North American tour dates this spring starting on May 6 in Austin. The run of shows includes stops at New York's Irving Plaza, Los Angeles' Fonda Theatre, Nashville's Marathon Music Works, D.C.'s 9:30 Cluband Chicago's Thalia Hall. See below for a complete list of dates.

The London-based band played music in various incarnations before officially forming in 2012. Their 2014 debut album, Islands, earned them an Ivor Novello nomination-the U.K.'s most prestigious songwriting accolade-alongside notable acts Ben Howard and Hozier, while their 2016 album, Red Earth & Pouring Rain, reached #6 on the U.K. album chart. The band has sold almost 500,000 records over the course of their career and after four years of nonstop touring has sold over 100,000 tickets worldwide including global festival appearances at Bonnaroo and Glastonbury.

BEAR'S DEN LIVE:

May 6-Austin, TX-Scoot Inn
May 7-Dallas, TX-Canton
May 9-Nashville, TN-Marathon Music Works
May 10-Atlanta, GA-Varsity Playhouse
May 11-Durham, NC-Motorco Music Hall
May 12-Washington, DC-9:30 Club
May 13-Richmond, VA-The Broadberry
May 15-Pittsburgh, PA-Mr. Smalls Theatre
May 17-Philadelphia, PA-Underground Arts
May 18-New York, NY-Irving Plaza
May 20-Cambridge, MA-The Sinclair
May 21-Montreal, QC-L'Astral
May 22-Ottawa, ON-The 27 Club
May 24-Toronto, ON-Phoenix
May 25-Grand Rapids, MI-Pyramid Scheme
May 27-Chicago, IL-Thalia Hall
May 29-Minneapolis, MN-First Avenue
May 31-Denver, CO-Globe Hall
June 1-Salt Lake City, UT-The Commonwealth Room
June 3-Missoula, MT-Top Hat Lounge
June 6-Vancouver, BC-The Commodore Ballroom
June 7-Seattle, WA-Neumos
June 8-Portland, OR-Aladdin Theater
June 10-San Francisco, CA-August Hall
June 11-Los Angeles, CA-The Fonda Theatre

Tickets are on sale now at bearsdenmusic.co.uk

To post a comment, you must register and login.