BOY & BEAR ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘LIMIT OF LOVE’ WITH THE RELEASE OF FIRST SINGLE ‘WALK THE WIRE’
With its live premiere at this year’s Splendour In The Grass Festival, Boy & Bear have released ‘Walk the Wire’ the first single from their third studio album Limit of Love. The follow-up to their #1 ARIA Album and platinum-selling Harlequin Dream, Limit of Love is released Friday October 9th through Universal Music Australia.
Limit of Love is available to pre-order today on CD, Digital Download and Limited Edition Vinyl. Fans can also pre-order exclusive limited edition album bundles on the Boy & Bear Store here. Those who pre-order the digital album on iTunes and album bundles on the Boy & Bear Store will receive an instant download ‘Walk the Wire’.
Following a massive touring schedule in 2014 – 170 shows across three continents – Boy & Bear decided to take the momentum they gathered on the road directly into the studio teaming up with renowned producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs) at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio. Their intention, to cut 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.”
The challenge paid off as seen with lead single ‘Walk the Wire’. Fuelled by a gritty guitar and synth groove, and buoyed by the honest, organic production style employed by Johns, the song is a bold new statement of intent.
Another first for Boy & Bear with Limit of Love was to write as a collective. With the demands of the previous year’s touring Hosking – usually the band’s main songwriter – hadn’t had time to craft fully fledged songs. Most of the writing for Limit of Love took place through the first half of 2015, including some particularly focused sessions on the N.S.W. South Coast. It was here, Killian Gavin, Tim Hart, Jon Hart and Dave Symes with Hosking, for the first time collaborated on a number of songs including ‘Walk the Wire’.
“From my end, that new writing method is quite liberating and exciting,” says Hosking. “It means I can still do what I love – sit in my living room and pick up a guitar and sort of purge, plus there’s now double the amount of songs coming in from the band, so we’re drawing from a wider pool.”
Making waves in the Australian music scene since forming in 2009, Boy & Bear’s debut album Moonfire (2011) reached double platinum sales, won 5 five ARIA Awards and saw 3 songs enter Triple J’s Hottest 100. Their sophomore album Harlequin Dream, released in 2013, debuted #1 on the ARIA Album Chart achieved 10 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 and was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards for that year. Internationally, Boy & Bear saw huge success in North America with single ‘Southern Sun’ (Harlequin Dream) reaching Top 5 on the Triple A Top 30 Chart for five consecutive weeks and USA Today naming the band one of “5 Australian Acts You Need To Know Now”.
‘Limit of Love’ is a recording that is less about fine-tuning everything to the nth-degree, and more about capturing a band at the height of their powers in an honest, organic way. It’s an approach most modern bands would be too scared to try, but for Boy & Bear, that leap of faith has proven to be a masterstroke.
LEAD SINGLE ‘WALK THE WIRE’ IS OUT NOW
BRAND NEW ALBUM ‘LIMIT OF LOVE’ RELEASED OCTOBER 9th
‘LIMIT OF LOVE’ ALBUM BUNDLES AVAILABLE ON BOY & BEAR STORE