Strength Of The Bear

The plaintive sound of Strength of the Bear that you're hearing belongs to a close-knit collective of mates, musicians and malcontents who are currently ploughing a fiercly acoustic yet deeply soulful trail to wherever their songs may take them. Information about the reclusive, offbeat trio has been extracted from hand-written notes scrawled by The Bear themselves, and which were obtained for the purpose of writing this profile. By notes, we're talking a collection of cryptic scribblings, rambling reflections on childhood, numerous lists and various references to animals, cricket and World War One. Singer Ed Pye describes himself as a salmon-loving school drop-out with a thick forehead, and insists that he was kept in a drawer as a child. Elsewhere, Midlands enthusiast Dan Smith is big into Genesis and throws annual sketch nights where he mimicks all of his mates in bizarre story-plots, whilst bassist Dave Lilley spent time as a choirboy playing soul covers in strip-clubs before making his name as The Fox. These are the three responsible for the world-weary, infectious songmanship which is sparking steady interest in Strength of the Bear. Far removed from the rock 'n' roll concerns of their louder counterparts, The Bear craft songs about domestic struggle and rotarian regret which still sound as uplifting as any throwaway pop group, yet they scratch out a far deeper furrow. It's bus stop blues and bear-faced folk, songs you can sing and music you can smoke to. The Bear sing cuddly songs about grisly tales that once get a hold of you, aren't easy to shake off.