I love nature. I love post-rock. I also love the intersection between the two. There’s something about the fluidity of post-rock and its dreamy tones that just makes sense for me alongside images of nature. It’s a heady feeling; I always find myself daydreaming when I slip into one of the moods brought on by good post-rock which channels natural imagery like Sleeping Bear or Wess Meets West. Luckily for me, there are plenty more bands willing to indulge my particular meeting of tastes and Bear the Mammoth are one of them. Hailing from Melbourne (and signed to the excellent Art as Catharsis), these guys deal in the kind of gentle, groovy and dreamy post-rock that I most love. Their video for their upcoming single, “Known Unknowns”, is also filled to the brim with images from the natural world, making it a true delight for me to premiere. Head on below!
I think what I love the most about this track is its agility. Like the aforementioned Sleeping Bear, it doesn’t over the top crescendos to be powerful; it knows how to do that with smaller gestures. Which is not to say those moments of catharsis aren’t there but they’re understated, more communicative with the rest of the track that brings us to them. A key component of such an agile and subtle approach to post-rock is the drums and they’re more than up to the task here. Listen as they float and flitter between bars, bolstering the delayed guitars and lending the whole thing a shimmering, translucent skin of beat and flow.
And the video is also gorgeous. Some of the images in it are familiar enough but a lot of is special and delicate, hinting at a real connection and fascination with nature. Overall, when coupled with the track’s light-hearted yet deep-felt nature, the mood it leaves us in is wide eyed and hopeful, seeking connection in things and dreaming of far away places. As all good post-rock should. Don’t forget to head on over to the band’s Bandcamp and pre-order Years Under Glass; it releases on October 5th and you don’t want to be sleeping on it.