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Bear's Den

First Loves / White Magnolias

    An incredibly prolific 2022 saw Bear's Den release their highly-praised fourth studio album 'Blue Hours' in May, which peaked in the UK Album Charts at No 6, and their original soundtrack for the Apple TV+ series Trying, on which they collaborated with the likes of Maisie Peters and Jade Bird.

    2023 sees folk-pop duo Bear's Den return once again to release a pair of new EPs, First Loves and White Magnolias.

    Formed in London 2012, Bear's Den have amassed a dedicated and international fan base with their anthemic songs. With 4 studio albums under their belt, as well as a collaborative project with composer Paul Frith, they have been a regular fixture in the charts of UK and Europe since their inception. Their debut album 'Islands' also garnered a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

    Having toured around the world playing theatres, arenas and festivals (including Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury Festival's Other Stage, Pukkelpop, Lowlands and Bonnaroo), in 2019, following the release of their third album 'So That You Might Hear Me' they returned to their origins for a tour of tiny 'Highlands and Islands' venues across Scotland and a supporting documentary. No stranger to music documentary making, the band also featured heavily in the award-winning documentary Austin To Boston alongside Ben Howard, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Staves.

    TRACK LISTING

    Evelyn 
    Helen Of Hammersmith Bridge 
    Summer & Smoke 
    Teach Me, Ava
    White Magnolias 
    Loneliness 
    Honest Mistake 
    Imitation

    Chartreuse

    Morning Ritual

      "There's a strange optimism in pulling all of your negative traits out, revising and reviewing them, and then putting them back, in order," says Mike Wagstaff, of the band's intricate, gorgeous songwriting.

      Chartreuse resist easy definition. The Black Country four-piece have been close friends since they were at college. In 2013, Mike and Harriet Wilson started playing folk music together ("We were not good at all," laughs Harriet), and a year later, they added a rhythm section, with the addition of Mike's brother Rory on drums and Perry Lovering on bass. Mike and Rory live together in Kidderminster in the West Midlands, while Harriet and Perry live just ten minutes away. They are very close friends and the songwriting is an extension of this intimacy. Their songs might find Harriet singing Mike's lyrics, or vice versa. "It takes a lot of trust, because the songs are not short of emotion," says Harriet.

      Morning Ritual has been a long time coming, with Chartreuse honing their craft over the course of four well- received EPs and the standalone 2022 single 'Satellites', a collaboration with Orlando Weeks. Having experimented with partly producing their previous EPs, Mike stepped up as sole producer on 2021's 'Is It Autumn Already?'. But they had big decisions to make. Should they build on the tracks from the last EP, and turn it into a full-length album? Would they work with a producer, or would Mike do it himself? They had more than enough new material to start an album from scratch, and Mike was ready to produce it. The framework for Morning Ritual was starting to take shape. "It was a natural progression," says Perry.

      TRACK LISTING

      1. All Seeing All The Time
      2. Backstroke
      3. Switch It On, Switch It Off 
      4. Who Bites Down
      5. Shield From Bedlam
      6. Agitated
      7. Never To Be Real
      8. Whippet 
      9. Morning Ritual
      10. This Could Be Anything
      11. Are You Looking For Something 
      12. Sorcerer's Eyes

      Dan Croll

      Fools

        The sumptuous 'Fools', Dan's fourth album, follows 2020's 'Grand Plan', a critical hit which captured his early experiences of life in LA and effortlessly exchanged his synth-pop of the past for sepia-tinged folk rock with Laurel Canyon leanings.

        It jumps forward, through Covid to the end of an intense three year relationship, the death of Dan's grandmother back in Britain and rare trips home as restrictions lifted. Sonically it spreads its net wider -– country, disco and woozy psychedelics join the Carole King and James Taylor nods on Grand Plan.

        A death, a pandemic and a break-up could have made for a sombre sounding album, but Dan took a different route, finding beauty where he could and poking fun at his own foolishness.

        Both albums were recorded largely live at the legendary Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia with Matthew E. White (Natalie Prass, Flo Morrissey, Slow Club) and his four-piece house band. This time, Dan co-produced, tinkering with sounds late into the night to add his own stamp to the record.

        First single received coverage from DIY, Clash, Mystic Sons, Various Small Flames, #BrandNew, Original Rock, Thank Folk For That, Music on the Rox and more.




        TRACK LISTING

        Slip Away 
        Talk To You 
        Friend Of Mine 
        Red And The Green 
        Sunshine 
        Second Guess 
        Fools 
        Piece Of The Action 
        Stephen 
        How Close We Came


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