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BEARDFISH
(SWEDEN)
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SONGS FOR BEATING HEARTS
(2024)
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LABEL:
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GENRE:
PROGRESSIVE ROCK
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TAGS:
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"Bearfish reforms and offers a fine progressive rock album with all the ingredients of the genre. It's beautiful, but lacks a touch of originality to make it memorable."
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4/5
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Beardfish is the story of a Swedish progressive rock band founded by a group of friends almost 25 years ago, whose members have grown, changed, sometimes started a family, until they split up after 15 years and 8 albums due to diverging personal agendas. The Swedes may be known as music lovers, but their story is unfortunately very banal and absolutely universal. The fast pace of rehearsals, album releases and tours is sometimes difficult to reconcile with family life. After a break of almost 10 years, time to breathe, pursue other interests and even try a solo career for some, such as singer Rikard Sjöblom, the band finally reformed.
When we say traditional progressive rock, we first think of bands like Yes, King Crimson or Genesis. And in this case, we don't need to broaden the palette much further to situate Beardfish's genre, even if it's true that it's a bit reductive. With “Songs for Beating Hearts”, Beardfish offer us music that's easy to pigeonhole as prog but not only, given the richness and sophistication of the tracks, both in their harmonic progression and in their technical content.
The opening track, 'Ecotone', immediately sets the tone for the style on offer. It introduces a 20-minute track, 'Out in the open', divided into five perfectly inseparable parts, linked by a strong thread: love and the art of finding one's way back after having lost one's way. After this epic, 'Beating hearts' offers 11 minutes of pure prog rock that will not disarm fans of the genre. The violin strings in the intro and outro are sublime, highlighting what the song has to say. 'In the Automn' is a beauty in itself, expressing the full extent of Beardfish's talent. While remaining within the realm of classic prog rock, it features interesting Led Zeppelin-style original progressions and the addition of female vocal harmonies that really add to the overall effect.
The bonus track 'Ecotone - Norrsken 1982', straight from the past, is undoubtedly a gift for die-hard fans, but we could have done without it, since it punctuates the story Beardfish has just told in a very singular way. With its reminiscences of Lynyrd Skynyrd and even Eagles, ending on 'Torrential Downpour' would have been more appropriate, even if it's not the album's most memorable track.
“Songs for beating hearts” is a pleasant album, optimistic in its message, which marks the reunion of a group of friends who started making music together in a garage. However, it's not certain that it will remain one of the year's memorable albums... - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Ecotone - 4:30
02. Out in the Open - 20:33
03. Beating Hearts - 11:01
04. In The Autumn - 5:58
05. Ecotone (Reprise) - 0:43
06. Torrential Downpour - 8:29
07. Ecotone – Norrsken 1982 edition (Bonus Track) - 6:13
LINEUP:
David Zackrisson: Guitares
Magnus Östgren: Batterie
Rikard Sjöblom: Chant / Claviers
Robert Hansen: Basse
Amanda Örtenhag: Chant / Invité
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READERS
-/5 (0 view(s))
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STAFF:
4/5 (6 view(s))
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