BEAK>
>>>> INVADA 8/10
Bristol trio turn reflective, with judicious wallop.
By Sharon O’Connell
Bill players: (l–r) Will Young, Geoff Barrow and Billy Fuller
EXPLAINING why they chose to eschew the industry norm of issuing singles or promo tracks in the run-up to the surprise release of this, their fourth album, Beak> declared that they were making “music for the ‘heads’”. Rather than signalling any kind of exclusivity, the tag is in effect listening advice: this is transportive music, so start at the beginning and listen through till the end.
A holistic approach isn’t new for the trio, though they’ve fine-tuned it down the years, from the jam-y nature of their 2009 debut, with its strange, sudden bursts of energy, to the more complex, strings-augmented >>> nine years later. What’s remained largely the same – and has become a defining characteristic – is the general air of unsettlement, spread by a combination of variegated vintage synths, Billy Fuller’s frequently dirty bass, and minimal, oddly ferrous guitar from Will Young. Geoff Barrow’s forlorn, often muffled vocals swim up through the illbient soup, the whole underpinned by his on-point motorik beats.