Bear’s Den - “Helen of Hammersmith Bridge”
UK-based Bear’s Den have just released their new EP, First Loves. And from this collection of songs, they’ve sent us the single, “Helen of Hammersmith Bridge,” which we now delightfully pass on to you for your listening pleasure.
Already amassing over one million monthly Spotify listeners, it is very likely that you’ve already heard their music, but for those of you still in the dark, pressing play on “Helen of Hammersmith Bridge” is pure, indie-folk bliss. It begins with a soft and soothing acoustic guitar, gently plucked as an electric feeds your ears some delicate chords. And once the vocals begin, you are bound to be swept away in their beauty, but be sure to heed their warning, which is “how easy it can become to lose sight of yourself when the world around you suddenly becomes rose-tinted.”
A highlight for us is when the vocals explore their upper register as the production thickens, thanks to some soft and ethereal padding. We detect no trace of autotune here, which seems to be becoming more and more rare these days, but what “Helen of Hammersmith Bridge” has in abundance is some fantastic vocal harmonies and plenty of wonderful, heartfelt honesty. There are some sparse moments of percussion sprinkled into just enough places to keep the listener’s interest piqued and we are confident in saying that you will come back to this one for multiple listens.
Once you’ve fallen in love with this number, we highly encourage you to dive into the rest of the EP:
-TM