Following a massive touring schedule last year which saw them playing 170 shows across three different continents in support of their Platinum-selling album HARLEQUIN DREAM, indie folk band, Boy & Bear took the energy they had gathered on the road directly into the studio. The band teamed up with renowned producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs) with the intention of cutting a record the old fashion way, live in the studio, straight to tape, with virtually no overdubs. “I was shitting myself,” laughs frontman Dave Hosking, who took on the almost-unheard-of challenge of recording his vocals live with the band. “But it’s funny you know, what made it less intimidating was having someone like Ethan there, who is such an advocate for it. He put it on the table at our first meeting, that he’d be very keen to at least try going for it as a first approach. When we left the meeting we felt pretty good about it. We were up for the challenge.” Given the demands of the previous year’s touring, Hosking, usually the band’s main songwriter, hadn’t had time to create a new set of songs – so for the first time Boy & Bear composed as a collective on a number of tunes, building them from the ground up as a band. The first taste listeners will have of this new approach is single Walk the Wire, which was is driven by gritty guitar and the honest, organic production style employed by Johns, the song is a bold new statement of intent and is released on October 30. The song can be listened to now, here: https://soundcloud.com/nettwerkmusicgroup/boy-bear-walk-the-wire/s-1dmeb Boy & Bear will be playing a handful of intimate warm up shows in the UK in November, ahead of a full headline tour in spring 2016. Tickets go on sale on Monday August 17. Live Dates: Thu Nov 5: London, Dingwalls Sat 7: Glasgow, King Tuts Sun 8: Manchester, Deaf Institute
