Like most magical moments in music, the core of All The Bees (Kirsty McGee and Gitika Partington) met by happy accident. A chance encounter on a lockdown film and TV sync music Zoom course found them bonding over a love of folk and nature, and the fruits of their union blossom with their eponymously-titled debut album. Containing nine tracks of the finest folk noir, All The Bees is an immersive, all-surround experience, and one that’ll leave you hungry for more.
‘Wildflowers’ is a quiet storm with which to open, yet it is typical of the band’s modus operandi. It slowly ingratiates itself into your soul, like a tree it will plant its roots into every fibre of your being. This is music that’s in perfect tune with nature, and in that respect in reminds me of latter day Talk Talk (and by extension Held By Trees). The keys fall like raindrops then drip from leaves onto the forest floor, then they wisp like wind through the trees, while the vocals are ethereal and otherworldly, a presence felt but unseen and are as waifish as fairies at the bottom of the garden. However, don’t write All The Bees off as a one trick pony because ‘King Crow’ has a touch of Fleetwood Mac in their all their mid-’70s majesty while the following ‘Down To The River’ brings to mind the kind of progressive rock found on classic Yes and Moody Blues records. Yet, just like the natural world from which they draw so much influence, All The Bees is an organic affair that buds and blossoms naturally; while each song has own aesthetic, they are also interconnected, as if part of the same tree.
The music on All The Bees is so hypnotic and awe inspiring that you might forget to pay attention to the lyrics. That would be understandable, but it would also be a grave oversight because the word smithery is just as beautiful, and those found on ‘Dancer Caught Dreaming’ could easily have come from the pen of Jim Morrison during his Gothic period. Outside there might be wars raging, along with famine and pestilence, but inside the world of All The Bees things are far more serene and calm. Actually, much of this album (‘Petals’ and ‘May Tide’, for instance) acts as a soothing balm to ease our troubled times, a tonic or toddy to warm our hearts against a cold, uncaring world. It’s on such an uplifting note that All The Bees concludes, ‘Stone From The Ocean’ is almost hymnal, and unlike the rest of the album which paints it sound from rustic reds and autumnal browns, stands stark, a bare tree in winter braving the elements and returning stronger the following season.
All The Bees call their sound folk noir and that’s pretty apt, and on several levels; it also shares a certain something with film noir, this is a very “cinematic” sound and will plant vivid images in your mind’s eye. This is a strong debut that promises much.
- All The Bees is released via All The Bees on 8th December 2023 (from here).
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Track List:
- Wildflowers
- The Crow
- Down To The River
- Dog Star
- Dancer Caught Dreaming
- Petals
- Storm Crow
- May Tide
- Stone From The Ocean
