Indie rock with a new wave edge finds a band that’s invigorated on their sixth release.
Time felt a little different for Australian indie band Boy & Bear when they were working on their sixth studio album “Tripping Over Time”. The band got to record in their own studio for the first time, which gave them the freedom to be free of the pressure to perform on costly hired studio time and slow things down, to the extent that the line between writing and recording became blurred and, to quote frontman Dave Hosking, it gave the band a new “experimental spirit”.
Experimental is a keyword to remember with the album, especially if you’re hoping to box it neatly into the – admittedly wide – spectrum that is americana. The title track, for example, feels like a piece of dreamy new wave escapism as Hosking sings that he’s “Wandering ‘round in the sun” but “not afraid of the unknown now” as he journeys through life, even “Floating through the night”. ‘Where Does Life Begin’ is upbeat with shades of melodic 80s pop-rock as Hosking tries to put a positive spin on the past, while ‘Vertigo’ is similarly vibrant with a reminder that you can only truly appreciate where you’ve been once you look back: “Now that the coast is clear / You look back at stars that got you here.”
“I’m taking my chances / I’m trying / We’re trying,” Hosking insists on the gentle ‘Thunder’ that rolls along less like a storm and more an easy summer breeze. ‘Love Has Been Too Good To Me’ is backed by a melodic drum machine, adding to the feel of retro pop panache as he muses artfully on how love has treated him: “Cos I’m an over thinker / But there’s a magic in that too / Sometimes you get real lucky / And stumble on the truth.” While it starts unassumingly, ‘Roses’ builds to some truly catchy power pop on the chorus as Hosking asks with surprising vigour “Won’t you bury me down / Where all of the roses will grow”.
The most classically americana sounding of the whole album, ‘Sleep Talking’ is a soft, meditative look into the state of a relationship and if the pair would still be drawn together now “If I was walking by for the first time / Would you still feel the same / Would we collide”, while on the melodic ‘All These Years’ Hosking struggles as he searches for guidance, but ‘Movie’ finds him feeling more wistful and languid, feeling that “Time an open gate / Creaking on its hinge”, but still he’s “not afraid of darkness”.
As a whole, “Tripping Over Time” is all about the small lessons you learn in life, the ones that might go unnoticed until you look back years down the line. “You keep learning, stumbling forward, and embracing the chaos with a smile. It’s optimistic, nostalgic and playful, just like life itself,” Hosking reflected on the album. It’s an LP that feels fresh too, which is quite something for a band 15 years into their career, and shows that Boy & Bear are in no danger of tripping over time as they keep on moving forward.
