We Speak Indie Artist

Australian Indie Folk Band Boy & Bear Release Official Music Video for Latest Single “Apex!”

Published

4 years ago

March 18, 2023

Self-Titled New Full-Length Studio Album – Due Out May 26, 2023

ew York, NY – 15 March 2023 – Australian indie pop band Boy & Bear have released the official music video for their latest single “Apex.” Directed by LA and Sydney-based Maclay Heriot, the newly released video pieces together footage from Boy & Bear’s recent series of global live shows alongside raw behind-the-scenes moments. Drawing upon Heriot’s background as a touring music photographer, the visuals capture a band in a cohesive working groove – spending time together to nurture a sound that’s fondly held by fans the world over. On record as on film, Dave Hosking’s immediate vocals croon beneath an arpeggiated guitar, as an easy flow of warm grooves flavor the echoed choruses and coos.

“A Boy & Bear live show is a magical experience and the same energy way felt when I was invited into the studio to document the recording sessions at Golden Retriever. Working in the studio is a peek behind the curtain of the creative process and provides the opportunity to capture unguarded moments. Having the chance to be a fly on the wall is rare, and to be able to share these moments alongside the live show footage from Woodford Folk Festival is insight into the talent and love this band has for one another and why they do what they do.” – Maclay Heriot

“Apex” is the third single and third music video to be released off the band’s forthcoming self-titled and self-produced album which will be released independently on May 26th. The album will be their fifth full-length (including two ARIA chart number ones!) release and was recorded at Golden Retriever Studios in Marrickville (an inner-city suburb of their Sydney hometown) and mixed by GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Craig Silvey (Florence + the Machine, Arcade Fire, The National) at Toast Studios in London.

Sydney-based Boy & Bear have released four ARIA chart-topping albums to much critical acclaim since their 2009 formation. Over the years the band has performed all over the world with two sell-out shows at the Sydney Opera House and their US TV debut on Conan O’Brien. Most recently, their music appeared in a campaign alongside Matthew McConaughey, the band performed alongside Crowded House, and enjoyed widespread success on their first independent releases, “State Of Flight” and “Just To Be Kind.” The official video for “Apex” is out today (WATCH HERE)

Boy & Bear

Strange World
State of Flight
Silver Moon
Magnus
Apex
Muscle
Crossfire
Just to Be Kind
Tin Man
Hostage
The Wheel

We Speak Indie Artist

Americana Newcomer JP Oldfield Makes A Case For Listening To An EP Properly

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Music4U

Music is increasingly consumed one track at a time. A song gets saved, shuffled, clipped, recommended and replaced. JP Oldfield’s Saltwater Gospel belongs to a different tradition.

Out now through Now Listen, it is built around a six-part story, so chopping it into isolated pieces changes what the release is doing. The Ferryman at the centre of the EP is not simply a character appearing in a few songs. His decisions carry from one track into the next, and the consequences accumulate.

That gives the tracklist a useful sense of progression.

“It’s Just Begun” establishes the situation. “The Preacher’s Noose” takes the Ferryman further into revenge and religious conflict. “Wash Me Away” pushes the story towards the water, while “Further from Heaven” widens the picture with the angel and the approaching flood. The final two tracks deal with what follows.

Oldfield is asking the listener to follow a sequence rather than cherry-pick the obvious single.

The subject matter helps. This is a story filled with burial, storms, scripture, punishment and death, so individual songs naturally raise questions that are answered later. Even the title points towards a larger idea, with the sea representing a force that operates according to its own cycles.

There is also no attempt to hide the fact that this is an independent project. Oldfield wrote the songs, created the linocut artwork and developed the mythology himself.

That combination makes Saltwater Gospel feel designed for an audience willing to give the whole release its proper running time.

In a culture that increasingly rewards the quickest possible listen, there is something appealing about an EP that says: start at track one and stay with it.