There’s no avoiding falling for each and every one of Bear’s Den’s songs, or so we’ve learned since that day, so long ago, when we first found ourselves inextricably in love with early song Elysium. The acclaimed UK folk rock and alt rock band has since put out two excellent albums, and they’re ready to serve up their third, ‘So that you might hear me’, on April 26th via Rounder Records. They give us an overwhelming dose of their sentimental rock on melting Crow, whose video was filmed in four locations across four countries, including Nashville, Sao Paulo, London, and Brussels. The video might be one of the most moving short music films you’ve watched in awhile. It very much reminds me of Bright Eyes’ First Day Of My Life and the wide array of relationships that their video realistically captured. Bear’s Den’s visual accompaniment also features real people and their real stories “The song ‘Crow’ was written in memory of my Mum’s boyfriend who lived with us growing up. He was an awesome guy and somewhere between a father figure and a best friend to me but unfortunately he passed away when I was about 15. I wrote this song as I wanted to acknowledge how important and thankful I am to him for helping to raise me and my sister,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Andrew Davie. He continues: “With the story of the song firmly in mind we thought that a music video that celebrated the idea of family would be the most appropriate thing we could do. We receive an overwhelming number of messages from people telling us about their relationships with the songs and their stories of how those songs have interacted with their lives. We wanted to honor those stories and provide an opportunity for their stories to be told somehow. We firmly believe that once a song is written and recorded and available, we cannot claim it to be ours, alone, anymore. This song lyrically encompasses so much of what we stand for. Talking openly about difficult things and also sharing those thoughts with our fans in the hope we can support each other and feel less alone in life’s harder moments. There is a weight to our relationship with our audience that we take seriously and won’t ever take for granted and that’s where the idea for the video for ‘Crow’ came from.” In support of their new album, Bear’s Den will embark on an extensive run of North American tour dates this spring starting on May 6 in Austin. The tour includes a stop at August Hall in San Francisco on June 10th, for which I’ve already acquired a ticket. Full tour dates are available via Bear’s Den’s website, here. Pre-order the new full length, here.
