British duo Bear's Den seek connection on their new album, 'So That You Might Hear'.
Released at the end of April, the album's title has been borrowed from a poem by Pablo Neruda 'So That You Will Hear Me', and as lyricist, vocalist and guitarist Andrew Davie explains, the songs are thematically bound by ideas around interpersonal communication.
“The album title came from this idea of trying to communicate with someone, but perhaps feeling like you weren't able to for whatever reason,” Andrew explains.
“A lot of the themes… are related to the idea of communicating – almost a message in a bottle style of thing of trying to put something out there and hoping it lands with someone but perhaps knowing that it might not.
“In my own life that's something I've definitely felt – the sense of feeling disconnected from a particular person but then also just generally feeling a little bit disconnected. We wanted to make an album that tried to engage with that sense of feeling disconnected from someone close to you.”
Contrary to the album's exploration of isolation and despondency, Andrew says writing and recording 'So That You Might Hear Me' was actually a very collaborative experience between he, bandmate Kevin Jones and the session musicians.
“Kev and I work a lot together before we introduce the songs to some of the session musicians who work with us live as well, then we were working with Phil Ek who's an awesome producer in Seattle,” he explains.
“So it's this constant collaboration and lots of conversation; it's kind of an ironic title in a way in the fact that for us it's a super collaborative and communicative experience. I think that perhaps the album title is more of a general sense of feeling disconnected from things in the world a little bit. It's very interesting that it comes from a very collaborative environment.”
Bear's Den will be taking 'So That You Might Hear Me' on tour over the next few months, with a US run from May to June followed by a UK/ European sojourn that takes them into August.
So, when do Australian fans get a taste of the new album live? “Mate, we are doing all we can to try and get over to Australia, it would be an absolute dream,” Andrew says.
“We've toured Australia once and it was the best experience ever, so we'd love to come back and we're doing all we can.”
As their third full-length studio album, 'So That You Might Hear Me' continues to build on what has so far been an organic process of development for the band's music, particularly since the departure of Joey Haynes in 2016.
As for where the next album takes them, Andrew says whether they go full electronic or strip it back to just two pianos, they try not to over-complicate or pre-plan their sound. “What normally happens is we make an album and we tour it, and that album from touring grows into a different world,” he says.
“Then when we finish touring it we're very excited about the new level that album has gotten to and we try to write an album into that headspace. That seems to be a cool way of working for us.
“I'm excited to see where we all naturally lean towards; it's very hard to know right now. We try to plan it but it never ends up like that,” he laughs.
