Polar Bear - In Each and Every One

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 17 / 6 / 2014

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Review

London's Polar Bear‘s new album reveals their continued development. This ensemble has over a decade’s worth of experience and musical wit. Their fifth album is highly tropical and topical. Sinking into warmer waters, Polar Bear swims into 'Open See' as a glowing flow of quirky jazz music evolves. The second track 'Be Free' borrows from cartoonish vaudeville music, and the tone is set. They flirt with afro funk and dub music on 'They're All K's And Q's Lucien' whilst sampling a suffocated shriek from a probably awful club tune, achieving a further momentum of confusion. On a more reflective note, Polar Bear's brass and drum section switches into a lower gear from 'Lost In Death' onwards. 'Maliana' xperiments with freeform to an extent that voodoo seems to be involved. The middle tracks recall New Orleans funeral music, before on 'Life and Life' Polar Bear also join the world of electronica. Ultimately this is a battle which comes to a grinding halt when the instruments win. ‘Each and Every One' concludes in dreamy and breezy freeform style with 'Two Storms' which sounds like it in between two storms. Quite in tune with most people's nervous systems, the calming tiptoeing music of 'Sometimes' makes the perfect cool down for what has been a hot ride.

Track Listing:-

1 Open See
2 Be Free
3 Chotpot
4 They're All Ks and Qs Lucien
5 WW
6 Lost In Death, Pt. 2
7 Maliana
8 Lost In Death, Pt. 1
9 Life and Life
10 Two Storms
11 Sometimes
12 Two Storms (Facing Loss Version)

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/sebastianroch
http://www.polarbearmusic.com/
https://twitter.com/polarbear_uk
https://soundcloud.com/polar-bear-musi
http://polarbearmusic.bandcamp.com/

Label Links:-

http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/index.p
https://www.facebook.com/theleaflabel
https://twitter.com/theleaflabel
https://www.youtube.com/user/theleafla
https://plus.google.com/10909849748304