Beak (stylized as BEAK>), have today announced and released their new album “>>>>” via Invada and Temporary Residence Ltd. The album cover features a giant dog (Alfie Barrow) shooting lasers from its eyes over Bristol’s landmark Clifton Suspension Bridge. The Bristol trio features Geoff Barrow (of Portishead), Billy Fuller (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) and Will Young of Moon Gangs. The band have previously released three albums with angle brackets as titles.
Other locational references include “Strawberry Line”, a tribute to the dog on the cover. It’s also the name given to the nearby Cheddar Valley Line that transported strawberries from Cheddar and is today part of the popular greenway running from Shepton Mallet to Clevedon (a coastal town on the Bristol Estuary not far from the town of Portishead).
They shared:
“At its core we always wanted it to be head music (music for the ‘heads’, not headphone music), listened to as an album, not as individual songs. This is why we are releasing this album with no singles or promo tracks.”
The band continues, “the recording and writing initially began in a house called Pen Y Bryn in Talsarnau, Wales in the fall out from the weirdness of the Covid days. Remote and with only ourselves and the view of Portmeirion in the distance we got to work.”
“With the opening track, “Strawberry Line” (our tribute to our dear furry friend Alfie Barrow, who appears on the albums cover) as the metronomic guide for the album, we then resumed recording, as before, at Invada studios in Bristol, whilst still touring around Europe and North/South America.”
“After playing hundreds of gigs and festivals over the years we felt that touring had started to influence our writing to the point we weren’t sure who we were anymore. So we decided to go back to the origins of where we were at on our first album. With zero expectations and just playing together in a room.” – Beak>
With this album announcement comes news of live shows – dates and details below – tickets on sale on Thursday 30th (via this link).
BEAK> Tour Dates
Wed 30 October – UK Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
Fri 01 November – UK London, The O2 Forum Kentish Town
Sat 02 November – UK Brighton, Concorde 2
Wed 06 November – UK Manchester, New Century Hall
Thu 07 November – UK Glasgow, Saint Luke’s
Fri 08 November – UK Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Mon 11 November – FR Lorient, L’Hydrophone
Wed 13 November – FR Paris, Élysée Montmartre
Fri 15 November – FR Lyon, L’Epicerie Moderne
Sat 16 November – FR Nantes, Le Lieu Unique
Sun 17 November – FR Tourcoing, Le Grand Mix
Tue 19 November – BE Brussels, Orangerie, Botanique
Wed 20 November – NL Amsterdam, Melkweg – Oude Zaal
Thu 21 November – NL Nijmegen, Doornroosje
Sun 23 November – CH Winterthur, Salzhaus
Mon 25 November – DE Munich, Hansa 39
Wed 27 November – DE Berlin, Gretchen
Fri 29 November – DK Copenhagen, Pumpehuset
Thu 12 December – IE Dublin, The Button Factory
Sat 14 December – UK Bristol, SWX