New Polar Bear single shifts into dub-edged territory
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
There’s little more than a month until Polar Bear’s upcoming sixth album, Same As You, hits the shelves, and here’s the first taste.
Released online, ‘Dont Let The Feeling Go’ whets the pallet with an expansive and unhurried dub groove. Vocals from bandleader Seb Rochford and guest Hannah Darling are the core to the song with their life affirming words. Meanwhile the saxophones remain rebelliously unhinged, complete with Rochford's Sons Of Kemet bandmate Shabaka Hutchings joining in as a very welcome guest, atop an irresistible grinding bass.
It’s another departure from the past for the British innovators; all the more surprising given how quickly Rochford and the team have re-emerged since their Mercury Prize nominated In Each And Every One. Some of the thematic murkiness is retained, but in a far more transparent sonic setting. Mixed with Californian producer Ken Barrientos in the Mojave Desert, the new track has all the hallmarks of such a vast environment.
Same As You is available 30 March online, on CD and on vinyl. You can also catch them touring the new album in the UK from April: Village Underground, London (8 April); Komedia, Brighton (15 April); Royal Northern College Of Music, Manchester (17 April); Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (18 April); The Kazimier, Liverpool (19 April); Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (21 April); Broomhill Art Hotel, Barnstable (22 April); Colston Hall, Bristol (23 April); and Festival Of Firsts, Brighton (6 July).
– Tommie Black-Roff
Listen to the track here: