Following 2021’s critically acclaimed ‘Little Eden’, The Bevis Frond return with new single from new album ‘Focus On Nature’ set for release 1st March on Fire Records. To celebrate its release, they will tour Europe for the first time since 2016 throughout April with a headline London show at the Lexington on 18th May.
New single ‘Leb Off’ is a dark vision of austerity in post War times against softly strummed psychedelia. Sided with ‘Brocadine’ it brings a measured, almost-medieval Pentangling, magical serenade of guitar virtuosity.
‘Focus On Nature’ is seventy-five minutes of glorious melodies that span 60s psych, English folk, Seattle art-punks The Wipers, the buzzsaw pop of Dinosaur Jr and Hendrix-esque explorations. There’s always an element of playful Englishness to their music. Heavily influencing the likes of The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, The Bevis Frond deliver another exceptional record to add to their huge canon.
Songwriter Nick Saloman begins with a perceptive five-minute resume of the climate crisis before juxtaposing queueing to see “shitty” bands in the rain with a study of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man. There are sharp one-liners aplenty, and tongue-in-cheek observations. And, of course, it all comes to a euphoric wah-wah-fueled string-bending climax. That’s what The Bevis Frond do.
Like its much-praised predecessor ‘Little Eden’, ‘Focus On Nature’ studies the world’s weariness but fills out a bigger canvas; fast food and global warming, broken hearts and long gone nights out, everyday immortality and being God’s gift all share space. It’s like Townshend at his most thematic; Big Star in all their acoustic glory, perfectly balancing the punky garage rock combo who end up running on ‘Empty’ with Gilmour breaks that elevate it all to grandeur.
Currently in the final stages of production, Nick Saloman is also the subject of a new documentary film set for release in 2024. From the acclaimed Fire Films (‘King Rocker’, ‘The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps’) and directors of ‘The Ballad Of Shirley Collins’, Fifth Column Films, ‘Little Eden’ tells the extraordinary story of the band with a soundtrack of explosive, transcendental and exquisite music drawn from a catalogue spanning four decades. Check out the official trailer here.
“In these sick, sick times the Bevis Frond is a gift for the ears, and balm for the soul” Dusted
“Still mixing pop, punk and psych to giddy effect.” The Guardian
“Self-reflection is twinned with a rueful survey of the current state of the nation.” Uncut
UK /EU TOUR 2024
12 Apr: Sidecar, Barcelona, Spain
13 Apr: Wurlitzer, Madrid, Spain
14 Apr: Cafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain
17 Apr: Het Depot, Leuwen, Belgium
18 Apr: Het Groot Verzet, Antwerp, Belgium
19 Apr: Dingle Djangl, Antwerp, Belgium
20 Apr: Piano Bar, Dortmund, Germany
21 Apr: Roadburn Festival, Tilburg, Netherlands
22 Apr: Logo, Hamburg, Germany
23 Apr: Quasimodo, Berlin, Germany
24 Apr: Nachtleben, Frankfurt, Germany
25 Apr: Hirsch, Nuremberg, Germany
26 Apr: Backstage Club, Munich, Germany
27 Apr: Chelsea, Vienna, Austria
28 Apr: Orto Bar, Ljubiljana, Slovenia
29 Apr: Freakout Club, Bologna, Italy
01 May: Kipepo Clothing Privat Show, Stuttgart, Germany
18 May: The Lexington, London, UK
04 Aug: Leytonstone Social, London, UK
