Acclaimed U.K.-based band Bear’s Den have announced that their fourth studio album, Blue Hours, will be released on May 13th via Communion Records. Band members Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones once again teamed up with producer Ian Grimble on what is one of their most personal records to date. Pre-order Blue Hours HERE.
In conjunction, the band has released their electronic-driven track “Spiders,” today, which follows the release of last year’s single, “All That You Are.”
“I started writing ‘Spiders’ around the time we left London. In my head, I thought moving would solve lots of problems, like everything will be better—almost like this Neverland vibe,” Davie laughs. “‘Spiders’ is a song dealing with the fact that this absolutely wasn’t the case. I had this vision in my head that I’d be at one with nature, that I’d be calmer – but all the things that were rattling around in my brain before were still there after the move. The song is about the fact you can’t run away from the things that are bothering you.”
“While making the record we wanted to get across a kind of simmering intensity with the song and the idea of someone trying to keep their shit together while wrestling with these darker thoughts and feelings,” furthers Davie. “We wanted to get across a sense of bravery and triumph in saying, ‘sometimes I can’t pull myself out’ of these difficult situations. To celebrate the difficult moments because we all have them. They are a universally shared experience even if it feels sometimes like they’re not and you’re the only one who feels them.”
Themes on the album include both self-reflection and mental health after both struggled with the latter in recent years. “It’s the main over-arching theme with this record,” Davie explains. “It probably speaks to our struggles and hopefully many other people’s too. Men are not very good at talking. We’re not really taught how to – men have no idea how to talk about this stuff, certainly to each other.”
Despite the album’s challenging themes, it’s an album drenched in hope too. “We wanted this to be a celebration of music,” Jones continues. “I think that informed some of the bolder decision making on this record. At a time when music was so distant, it felt important to make an album that sounded hopeful, celebratory, ambitious and beautiful in spite of the heavy subject matter in some of the songs.”
Jones adds: “It was almost like we needed to shout louder than before because we felt that there were more barriers between the audience and us. We needed something to transcend that.”
The group also confirmed an extensive run of U.K., European and North American tour dates. The set of U.S. tour dates kicks off in early September and include performances at New York’s Webster Hall, Los Angeles’ Troubadour, Nashville’s The Basement East, Chicago’s Thalia Hall, D.C.’s 9:30 Club and more. Ticket pre-sale begins on Wednesday, January 26, 10AM local time. Full tour routing can be found below.
BEAR’S DEN LIVE
April 23—Oslo, NO—Parkteatret
April 24—Stockholm, SE—Debaser
April 26—Copenhagen, DK—Studie 2
April—Berlin—TBC*
April 29—Hamburg, DE—Fabrik
May 1—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
May 2—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
May 5—Zurich, CH—Kaufleuten
May 7—Cologne, DE—Carlswerk Victoria
May 9—Brussels, BE—Ancienne Belgique
May 17—Bristol, UK—O2 Academy
May 18—London, UK— Eventim Apollo
May 21—Dublin, IE—Olympia
May 22—Manchester, EN—Albert Hall
May 23—Glasgow, UK—O2 Academy
May 25—Newcastle, EN—Newcastle University
May 26—Birmingham, EN—O2 Institute
May 27—Leeds, EN—Leeds University Stylus
September 8—Dallas, TX—The Studio at The Factory
September 9—Austin, TX—Emo’s
September 11—Nashville, TN—The Basement East
September 12—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse
September 14—Ardmore, PA—Ardmore Music Hall
September 15—New York, NY—Webster Hall
September 16—Washington, DC—9:30 Club
September 17—Boston, MA—Royale
September 20—Toronto, ON—Danforth Music Hall
September 21—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
September 23—Minneapolis, MN—Varsity Theater
September 24—Iowa City, IA—The Englert Theatre
September 25—Kansas City, MO—Knuckleheads Saloon
September 27—Denver, CO—Bluebird Theater
September 28—Salt Lake City, UT—The CommonWealth Room
September 30—Seattle, WA—Neptune Theatre
October 1—Vancouver, BC—Vogue Theatre
October 3—Portland, OR—Revolution Hall
October 5—Felton, CA—Felton Music Hall
October 6—San Francisco, CA—August Hall
October 8—West Hollywood, CA—Troubadour
*venue/date to be confirmed