Forest Bees is a project commanded by Sheetal Singh. Sheetal was in The Stratford 4 some years ago and one can hear here faint echos of the earlier band's material. More importantly, Forest Bees by Forest Bees suggests a new kind of dream pop, to use the kind of term that this sort of thing usually inspires. And Singh, at times, elevates this material above the routine which makes this album one which deserves more attention in a June full of new releases.
"Alone Together" kicks things off in a shoegaze style, of sorts, while the far better "Hollow Bones" and "Subverter of Geography" nod in the direction of Chapterhouse and Seafeel, respectively. Elsewhere, "Golden Dream" rides the right kind of blissful riffs that lots of us grew up listening to from other acts a few decades ago, while "Fever Dream" takes the same thing and slows it down to a more deliberate pace.
Sheetal Singh brings a new cohesion to the entirety of Forest Bees. If not enough songs take off into the stratosphere, at least they're all supremely listenable. Flashes of music that sounds like Broadcast, or Curve, for example, are here, but, for the most part, the material rises above its clear points of inspiration. Forest Bees won't surprise anyone, but it will please most fans of the dream pop form. Sometimes what that form needs is not a band reinventing it, but a musician reminding us how much pleasure it can give. If done right, that is. And Sheetal Singh understands exactly how to make this familiar stuff feel at least moderately fresh again.
Forest Bees is out now via the link below.
More details on Forest Bees via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Fore Field PR]