Australian indie mainstays Boy & Bear are back with their fifth studio album, a self-titled release that drops everywhere on Friday. We knew by the second track "State of Flight" that Boy & Bear were not playing around with this release. It's chock full of indie goodness that if you've been following the band over their spanning career since 2009, you'll be excited. However, if this is your first time listening to the band, we think you'll take something away as well.
One after another, the tracks on this self-titled release have a nice bop layer to them on the rhythm that just works perfectly with singer David Hosking's vocals. We especially love the pairing on "Apex" where Hosking shows off his range going low to high effortlessly. The album is just crisp, which is cool to see since it was self-produced by the band. It was mixed by GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Craig Silvey who's past credits include Florence + The Machine, Arcade Fire, and The National.
On this self-titled release, Boy & Bear are able to perfectly balance electronic beats with guitar to establish great rhythms to pair with the vocals. This may not necessarily be dance music, but don't get it twisted, you can lose yourself in it. One great example of this on the record is "Crossfire" where all the elements blend together into a perfect sonic fusion for the listener. With the release of this record, Boy & Bear should continue their steady rise as a band beyond their fierce grip on Australia and continue their march toward music world domination.
Rating - 4/5
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