With their highly-anticipated new album ‘Blue Hours’ set for release on May 13th via Communion Records, folk-rock duo Bear’s Den – made up of Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones – now unveil the poignant and moving short film ‘Spiders & Shadows’, combining the visuals from their two recent singles.
Created by accomplished animator Mawrgan Shaw, the two original videos have now been brought together into one beautiful composition to really encapsulate and bring to life some of the core themes of their forthcoming album, and features over 5000 digitally hand-drawn and animated images. While ‘Spiders’ focused on the male character’s struggle with depression, ‘Shadows’ turns to what his female counterpart is experiencing as she tries to comfort him throughout his ordeal.
Watch ‘Spiders & Shadows’ BELOW:
Spiders & Shadows (2022) from Mawrgan Shaw – Animation on Vimeo.
Speaking about the new video, Mawrgan said, “When approached by the band to create not one but two music videos that would in turn be one story, I was very moved and excited by the idea. The songs deal with heavy and complex issues and experiences; that of suffering and knowing loved ones who suffer from depression. Bear’s Den were very clear on the two pieces needing to relate to one another, but beyond that I was very lucky to be given creative freedom.
“The idea of the abstract memory space that he travels through in ‘Spiders’ came to me as a way of introducing these themes without specifically stating what the story is about. I wanted to provide a degree of interpretation that each person could bring to the piece. For me, ‘Spiders’ is the story of someone becoming lost in their own mind. Feeling trapped by negative thoughts and memories, but rather than addressing them, attempting to run away from those feelings, leading them to spiral into a worse place than before.
“As we transition into ‘Shadows’, the focus switches. We journey with two people, one who is clearly fighting the negativity in their mind, and the other who is trying to be there for them as best they can. When one person becomes literally lost in their own thoughts, it is up to the other to find a way back to them. She journeys through the memories, fighting through the pain to catch him just before he falls. It was really important to me that the message came through – that healing isn’t a linear process, and needing help is never something to be ashamed of. There’s a triumph in the music of Shadows that gave me shivers the first time I listened and it was that feeling I was reaching for in this work.”
Produced by regular collaborator Ian Grimble, themes on the new album ‘Blue Hours’ include both self-reflection and mental health after both struggled with the latter in recent years. “It’s the main overarching theme with this record,” Davie explains. The group, who has worked with mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) previously added: “It probably speaks to our struggles and hopefully many other people’s too. Men are not very good at talking. We’re not really taught how to – men have no idea how to talk about this stuff, certainly to each other.”
Adding about the new album, Davie says: “Blue Hours is a kind of imaginary space you get into at night, a place where you process difficult things or where you try to figure everything out.”
The pair describe the conceptual blue hours headspace that gives the new album its title as being “somewhere between a hotel, a mental health hospital, a bar that stays open later than anywhere else, a paradise, a dream, a nightmare and an endless sea of corridors and staircases leading you to rooms that represent memories – good, bad, happy or difficult.”
Despite the album’s challenging themes, it’s an album drenched in hope too. “We wanted this to be a celebration of music,” Jones continues. “I think that informed some of the bolder decision making on this record. At a time when music was so distant, it felt important to make an album that sounded hopeful, celebratory, ambitious and beautiful in spite of the heavy subject matter in some of the songs.” Jones adds: “It was almost like we needed to shout louder than before because we felt that there were more barriers between the audience and us. We needed something to transcend that.”
The group has also recently announced details of a full UK, Europe and North America 2022 tour, with tickets available to purchase now from https://www.bearsdenmusic.co.uk/live – including a newly added second date at Brussels Ancienne Belgique on May 10th.
The full list of dates are:
23rd April – Oslo – Parkteatret
24th April – Stockholm – Debaser
26th April – Copenhagen – Studie 2
28th April – Berlin – Astra
29th April – Hamburg – Fabrik
1st May – Amsterdam – Paradiso
2nd May – Amsterdam – Paradiso
5th May – Zurich – Kaufleuten
7th May – Cologne – Carlswerk Victoria
9th May – Brussels – Ancienne Belgique *Last tickets
10th May – Brussels – Ancienne Belgique **extra date
17th May – Bristol – O2 Academy
18th May – London – Eventim Apollo
21st May – Dublin – Olympia
22nd May – Manchester – Albert Hall
23rd May – Glasgow – O2 Academy
25th May – Newcastle – Newcastle University
26th May – Birmingham – O2 Institute
27th May – Leeds – Leeds University Stylus
8th Sept – Dallas, TX – The Studio at The Factory
9th Sept – Austin, TX – Emo’s
11th Sep – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
12th Sept – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
14th Sept – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall
15th Sept – New York, NY – Webster Hall
16th Sept – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
17th Sept – Boston, MA – Royale
20th Sept – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
21st Sept – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
23rd Sept – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
24th Sept – Iowa City, IA – The Englert Theatre
25th Sept – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads Saloon
27th Sep – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
28th Sept – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room
30th Sept – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
1st Oct – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
3rd Oct – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
5th Oct – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
6th Oct – San Francisco, CA – August Hall
8th Oct – West Hollywood, CA – Troubadour
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