THE BEES ARE BACK

THE Bees have been quietly plugging away for some years now.
But just because the former Mercury Prize nominees are not crazed tabloid headline-grabbers doesn’t mean they haven’t got something worth listening to.
In fact, it is this very reason, their understated nature, which has attracted just the right amount of attention from those who know what they are looking for.
Take the fact that they have just come off tour supporting Paul Weller at a series of venues that almost all seem to have “arena” in the title.
That’s the kind of gig a good band wants and they got it.



And as with all good bands, there has to be a bit of drama, a label change, a long gap between albums and a few utterances about new freedoms and so they have returned, having fulfilled these important clichés.
It’s been three years since their last album Octopus and the band, which headlines Koko tomorrow (Friday), is sounding very pleased with their decision to work with label Fiction.

Fourth album, Every Step’s A Yes, was released on Fiction in October and has been nominated for the iTunes editor’s Album of the Year.
According to singer and songwriter Paul Butler, the label is in touch daily with new ideas and ways of doing things.
Aaron Fletcher another of the band’s multi talents (songwriter, guitarist, bass player), said: “It’s like starting all over again. Only now we’ve got loads of fans and people who love us. And our own studio. And an amazing label.”

The album’s a smiley, happy effort, mainly made up of uplifting guitars, psychedelic sitar twists and folksy harmonies – a cosy antidote to December’s freeze, with a more mature feel than previous efforts.
This may be something to do with how they have spent their time over the past three years.
Paul and Aaron stopped sharing a house, which seems to have sparked a new wave of enthusiasm and inspiration, they have played alongside Pink Floyd and Paul spent some time in LA working with eclectic – and definitely eccentric – folk-singer/artist Devendra Banhart.

This summer they played Glastonbury, naturally hailed among the best gigs they’ve ever done, but it’s really the decision to split from former label that they credit with their new creativity.
Since breaking from the traditional write, rehearse, record, tour routine, they have had the time to work at their own speed, which seems to have given their brains some time to ferment.

The result was that everything slowed down, the boys chilled out and the band found the confidence to really develop the kind of songs they had always wanted to write.
“The last two albums were exercises in creative writing,” said Paul. “These songs are all much more emotionally direct. I was thinking of those Joe Boyd productions – Nick Drake and Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, John and Beverley Martyn.”
You get the picture.
I leave you with a little-known fact – The Bees are known as A Band of Bees in America.
The Bees single Winter Rose is out on December 20.