Red Earth & Pouring Rain Bear's Den

• 1 Red Earth & Pouring Rain 04:52
• 2 Emeralds 04:30
• 3 Dew On The Vine 05:03
• 4 Roses On A Breeze 05:21
• 5 New Jerusalem 04:13
• 6 Love Can't Stand Alone 05:27
• 7 Auld Wives 04:39
• 8 Greenwoods Bethlehem 05:33
• 9 Broken Parable 06:12
• 10 Fortress 05:22
• 11 Gabriel 04:05
• 12 Napoleon 05:26
• Total Runtime 01:00:43

Info for Red Earth & Pouring Rain

Bands müssen sich weiterentwickeln, um zu überleben. Für Bear’s Den – deren Name von Maurice Sendaks Kinderbuch-Klassiker Where The Wild Things Are inspiriert ist – war dieser Prozess nicht immer frei von Schmerzen. “It’s been an amazing three years,” sagt Sänger/Gitarrist Andrew Davie (genannt Davie) mit Blick auf die letzten Jahre, in denen die Band pausenlos unterwegs war, um ihre atmosphärische und leidenschaftliche Musik in Europa, Nordamerika und Australien auf die Bühnen zu bringen. “But being on the road so much pushes friendships to the limit, and really affects your relationships outside of it. You get extreme highs and lows.” In jedem Fall sind es diese Erfahrungen, all die Höhen und Tiefen, die das zweite Album Red Earth & Pouring Rain prägen.

Red Earth & Pouring Rain ist ein durchdacht komponiertes Album und zugleich ein sehr persönliches. Musikalisch hat die Band eine erstaunliche Wandlung vollzogen. Während die Folk-Wurzeln weiter durchscheinen, orientiert sich der Sound nun insgesamt an der schwelgerischen Alchemie des Mainstream Rocks der 70er und 80er: Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles und insbesondere die mitternächtliche Atmosphäre von Springsteens „Darkness On The Edge Of Town“. “We spent a lot of time on the road and that music really fitted our head space,” sagt Davie. “It felt like the natural musical progression.” “We wanted to make a great album for driving at night” fügt Kev hinzu.

Fans des Debütalbums Islands wissen, dass das Ausloten emotionaler Abgründe eine Spezialität der Band ist: “There have been so many incredible moments on our journey, this album gave us a chance to take stock and reflect on how far we’ve come,” so Davie. “At the same time, it encouraged us to be more brave musically.

Es sind die vor allem die Spannungs- und Reibungsflächen der flirrenden Gitarren und stoischen Rhythmenn die den Sound dieser Platte auszeichnen, ein schwererer, impulsiverer und vollerer Bandsound. Dieser Sinn dafür, Dinge zu einem Ganzen zusammenzufügen, die sich scheinbar widersprechen - den Arm in die Luft recken zu wollen mit einer Träne im Augenwinkel - ist es, was Red Earth & Pouring Rain ausmacht.

Bear's Den
Taking a cue from earnest, pastoral folk-rockers like Mumford & Sons, the Avett Brothers, and Stornoway, London alt-country/indie folk band Bear's Den rose to U.K. chart success with their 2014 debut album Islands. Expanding their international reach through heavy touring, they reaped the benefits on their more pop-driven follow-up, 2016's Red Earth & Pouring Rain, which performed well across Europe, paving the way for 2019's So That You Might Hear Me.

Bear's Den formed in 2012 around the talents of ex-Cherbourg members Andrew Davie (vocals, guitar) and Kev Jones (vocals, guitar, drums) and banjoist/singer Joey Haynes. The group honed their chops on tours with contemporaries like Of Monsters and Men, the Smoke Fairies, and Matt Corby before securing the opening slot for the Mumford's 2012 performance at London's massive O2 Arena. They issued a pair of debut EPs, Without/Within and Agape, through the Communion label the following year. In 2014, the trio entered the studio with Ian Grimble to record their debut album, Islands. Released toward the end of the year, the album hit the U.K. albums chart in the Top 50 and album track "Above the Clouds of Pompeii" was nominated for an Ivor Novello award in early 2015. That year also saw the band head out in support of the release with tours across the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. At the beginning of 2016, Haynes announced he was leaving the band to spend more time with his family; Jones and Davie continued on.

In July of that year, Bear's Den released their sophomore album, Red Earth & Pouring Rain. Produced once again by Grimble, it fared even better than their debut, charting well around Europe and reaching number six at home in the U.K. Following several years of touring and writing, the band decamped to the U.S., recording their third LP in Seattle with producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, the Shins). Heralded by a pair of singles in early 2019, So That You Might Hear Me was slated for release in April of that year.

This album contains no booklet.