British band Beak>, which includes Portishead member Geoff Barrow, has released a surprise new album titled ‘>>>>’, marking their first in six years. The trio comprises Barrow, Will Young and Billy Fuller and have released three other studio albums since forming in 2009. The new album’s tracklisting is as follows: ‘Strawberry Line’; ‘The Seal’; ‘Windmill Hill’; ‘Hungry Are We’; ‘Ah Yeh’; ‘Bloody Miles’; ‘Secrets’ and ‘Cellophane’.
The trio revealed that the recording and writing took place primarily in a house called Pen Y Bryn in Talsarnau, Wales, following the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a press release, the group sought to create head music that listeners could absorb as an album, not as individual songs. As such, no singles or promotional tracks were released before the album launched to encourage fans to appreciate the content in its entirety.
In addition to the release, Beak> has announced a series of live performances across the UK and Europe, starting with an opening night slot at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach on 30 October, followed by UK shows in London, Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds. The band will perform five shows across France before heading to Belgium for two performances, followed by a gig in Copenhagen. The final two shows of the tour will take place at The Button Factory in Dublin and Bristol’s SWX on December 12 and 14 respectively. Tickets for all performances go on sale on 30 May.
Barrow’s former Portishead bandmate Beth Gibbons also recently released a solo album called ‘Lives Outgrown.’ This marked the first solo album from the iconic trip-hop vocalist and contains ten tracks recorded over a ten-year period
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