Cult Swedish progressive rockers Beardfish recently announced a brand new studio album titled ‘Songs For Beating Hearts’ on November 1st, 2024, their first new music since breaking up in 2016. Today they launch the second single from the album, and you can watch the video for ‘Torrential Downpour’ here:
As Rikard explains: “I lost my dad to cancer in 2022 and when this song was written there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it felt almost like a lament. When I later read the lyrics I realised it was about him, but also about family and our heritage as humans in general – how we all come from two people who also come from two people and no one ever really disappears because we’re all connected in a way. Call me the son of someone you used to know, or someone you never knew – it doesn’t matter. Call me the son of sun… Suddenly it’s not just a lament for someone who’s dead, it’s also a celebration of life.”
“I think the reunion became an idea in 2021, a few years ago,” explains Rikard Sjöblom. “We started talking about doing something. People had made amends, and I guess everyone started missing being in a band together, and missing each other! We all kept in touch, and things ended up on the right foot in many aspects, and then we started talking about maybe meeting up and trying to play something. I had a couple of new songs written, and they really sounded like Beardfish, and I had some instrumental doodles that I was working on. So we met up and tried to play. The first thing we played was Without Saying Anything from Mammoth, and we started jamming and it felt like home, even after many years. I felt like, ‘These are my brothers!’
With strong echoes of past glories but a whole new vibe of wistful wonderment, Songs For Beating Hearts is a glowing testament to the magic that happens when these four musicians join forces. From the dreamy melancholy of the opening Ecotone and the intricate opulence of five-part sprawl Out In The Open, to the prog-friendly pastoralism of bittersweet 11-minute epic Beating Hearts, and the sobering prog-noir of the closing Torrential Downpour, Beardfish have not just made their strongest work to date, but also their most emotionally resonant. Loosely held together by thoughts of love, loss, friendship and finality, Songs For Beating Hearts is the sound of four kindred spirits laying their hearts bare.
‘Songs For Beating Hearts’ will be available as a Limited CD Digipak (including one bonus track), Gatefold LP & as Digital Album, all featuring artwork from longtime collaborator Spencer Keala Bowden, and can be pre-ordered now here: https://beardfish.lnk.to/SongsForBeatingHearts
The full track-listing is as follows:
1.Ecotone 04:30
2.Out in the Open 20:33
3.Beating Hearts 11:01
4.In The Autumn 05:58
5.Ecotone (Reprise) 00:43
6.Torrential Downpour 08:29
7.Ecotone – Norrsken 1982 edition (Bonus Track) 06:13
