Bear in Heaven, Beast Rest Forth Mouth

review by dave heaton

Bear in Heaven remind me of Yes, Genesis, and other ‘70s art-rock bands that I don’t like all that much, but in a rootless, lost-in-the-stars way that that I really like. Much of the album washes over me without conveying meaning per se, the way the title Beast Rest Forth Mouth means nothing to me but sounds nice. Rather than try to figure them out, I enjoy being confused. That’s partly because of the meaty, silky, thick-synth future-groove to songs like “You Do You”, and the way occasional songs do clean up the hooks enough to give us something to grab on to. Like “Lovesick Teenagers”, with its to-me emblematic lyric “just embrace it / our destination. There’s a warped quality to the whole album, but it’s also sensual and satisfying. I think of “Ultimate Satisfaction”’s repeated lyric, if I’m hearing it right: “There’s a pleasant feeling in my hands / it feels just as it should.” That’s the sort of impression I have of this album. It’s perplexing, but feels so good.

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