ALBUM REVIEW: everything hurts – BED
Shoegaze meets post-punk trio BED have put out their album everything hurts. Although founded in Berlin, the group is international, made up of Argentinian bassist, Sol Astolfi, Chilean vocalist, Nicolás Astorga, and German guitarist Ema Shiller, with their core existence being that of a queer musical project. Their shoegaze meets post-punk meets dream pop sound comes from their long list of influential musicians including Kevin Shields, Courtney Love, and Elizabeth Fraser, with a heavy emphasis on 90s music. The result is music that on the one hand is fuelled by sex and desire, yet on the other focuses on sadness and being vulnerable, creating a vivid, beautiful listening experience.
Opening the record is the title track itself that starts out with low synths that slowly elevate in volume before moving into dark-electronic pop territory that also blends with some industrial elements, tied together with the harmonies that phase in and out of focus. In some ways, you can compare this record to the likes of alternative electronic artists like GRIMES through the way things go in different directions and bring in a variety of styles to experience, yet in other ways it’s very hard to compare with BED potentially setting their own standards of creating shoegaze pop that feels as trippy as it is dreamlike.
The album itself is more on the instrumental side outside of the harmonies that come in and out of focus, causing moments that already sound incredible to be taken to a whole new level, with songs like my hole and burn slow quickly coming to mind where the vocals help to elevate the intensity already set in motion with the heavy drums and bass, with the latter being more a soundscape track where we can hear the sounds of wind blowing with the broken glass of an abandoned building, the general mood being somewhat sinister and mysterious where you wonder what happened in this location perfectly captured by sound.
The vocals also add a new meaning by using repetitive, spoken word. For example, the song loser appears somewhat uplifting and happy with the bass composition yet begins to shift into something much more serious, despite the earlier elation not quite disappearing, thanks to the repeating of the sentence “I’m getting control” that has you thinking this is a track about a comeback story, yet the very last phrase “I think I lost control” completely evaporates the confidence we felt growing. This is also the case in ride (here to stay) where the story remains positive and reassuring with the low bass and repetition of the sentence “I’m here”.
And perhaps the most powerful moment is in the song sl*t where the opening monologue details one’s determination to not let words affect them any longer, with the title indicating the power in taking back a derogatory title, and we feel that power build and materialise around us. A truly lovely moment. A beautiful record that somehow combines, yet compliments, dreams and reality with its atmosphere of escapism whilst avoiding the idea of ignoring one’s problems and struggles. A truly stunning experience.
Rating: 8/10
everything hurts is out now via Bretford Records.
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