Polar Bear^(UK)

Polar Bear have marked themselves out as one of the most exciting and progressive bands of their generation. Since receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination for their second album 'Held On The Tips Of Fingers', the band, led by drummer Sebastian Rochford, has continued to innovate and transcend genre, connecting with jazz, rock, hip-hop, electronic and mainstream audiences alike.Released in the spring of 2014, In Each And Every One is Polar Bears fifth album - their first since 2010s widely acclaimed Peepers. Its certainly their boldest and most dynamic work to date. A remarkable song cycle, it offers an expansive arc across deep emotional terrain, it evokes a range of atmospheres: post- industrial scrub, grimy metropolitan house parties, snowy wastelands, dark mountain gatherings. Rochford has worked with a bewildering array of iconic musicians in recent years, including Paul McCartney, Brian Eno, Beck, Rokia Traoré, Yoko Ono, Matana Roberts, Jehst, Shabaka Hutchings and Damon Albarns Africa Express project. Twin saxophonists Pete Wareham (Melt Yourself Down, Acoustic Ladyland) and Mark Lockheart (Django Bates) (Replaced by Olie Dover in 2015) together possess a broad emotional vocabulary, while bassist Tom Herbert (The Invisible) is irresistible when he plays inside the groove. These disparate musical elements are driven and moulded by the deft touch of electronics wizard Leafcutter John. SAME AS YOU - out nowIn the time it takes to say 2014 Mercury Prize shortlisted album In Each And Every One, Polar Bear have returned with a brand new album. Dont Let The Feeling Go is the first single from their upcoming sixth album Same As You. Featuring bandleader Sebastian Rochford alongside Hannah Darling on vocal duties, it finds Polar Bear at their most direct: the songs infectious life-affirming mantra stays with you long after the track has ended.Given its short gestation, it is striking how far removed the new album is from its immediate predecessor. Inspired by Sebs time in the Mojave Desert, there is a startling freshness in the songs, both thematically and sonically. After the dark complexity of recent output, Same As You is presented in sharp focus, as inclusive and accessible as the title suggests, while still maintaining the playful experimentation on which the band has made its name.SAME AS YOU - Album reviews:5/5 The Guardian: "Its another uncategorisable and understated triumph"4/5 The Times: "Could be a 1970s krautrock band told to play John Coltranes A Love Supreme"4/5 The Observer4/5 All Music: "Their most musically satisfying album"Jazz Journal: "This might be a contender for album of the year"4/5 The Irish Times: "In the intervening decade, genre defiance has become the norm, but Polar Bear are still a unique proposition."Jamie Cullum: "Truly great, completely essential"The Arts Desk: "Cosmic love-in"4/5 MusicOMH: "This music emphasises an unhurried, thoughtful approach to life that is beautifully at odds with the noise of a bustling metropolis in a General Election year"4/5 Mojo: "A joyous affirmation of positivity."8/10 Uncut: "Their most direct and uplifting yet"4/5 Q: "The UKs most forward-thinking jazz act."4/5 Record Collector: "The sixth and best long player from Seb Rochfords Mercury Prize-shortlisted band Polar Bear Marvellous"4/5 Marlbank: "Polar Bear are still the most creative and free of the Britjazz millennial dance and indie-influenced jazz bands around to have emerged to go on to make an impact not just on home soil but abroad."5/5 NARC: "This album is like some kind of weird soup, deliciously strange and beautifully colourful, warming you from the inside out." Sebastian Rochford - DrumsTom Herbert - BassPete Wareham - SaxOllie Dover - SaxLeafcutter John - Electronics