Annuals - Be He Me Album Review

Annuals
Be He Me
Album Review

There is an energy and a spark about this album that makes its rambling folk meets prog rock deliciously compelling. Like Midlake, Grandaddy or Akron/ Family mixed with some Field Music or Arcade Fire for the rocked up bits, the songs build in intensity, if not in intelligibility, throughout.

Be He Me is like a throw back to the age when a Yes album would need some sustained attention and some effort, although there is a funky Gomez-like layer on top to give it some immediate impact. The layers of sound and structure, at times, suggest that two great songs are going on at any one time.

The band, from North Carolina, is making fans everywhere for its live show, but there is nothing here that sounds over-produced - the spontaneity seems genuine rather than added via trendy 'found sounds', the freshness is organic and infectious. Be He Me is an album to savour by yourself - headphones or long car journey. Very very good, very odd stuff.

4/5