It has been six long years since the British band Beak> released their second album ">>". The trademark of the trio around Portishead instrumentalist Geoff Barrow is spontaneity. Their new opus ">>>" may sound a bit more calculated and domesticated than their two predecessors, but Barrow, Billy Fuller and the new third man Will Young were again more concerned with experimental openness in sound than with completed songs.
The long waiting time for the third disc deceives a little about the actual continuity of the group. "Beak> is not a side project of Portishead," Barrow recalls, "but a joint band of three musicians who are also involved in many other projects: Billy's in Robert Plant's band, Will's on Moon Gangs. Finding a common studio date for an album is not easy. We also had to cope with a change in personnel. But in the meantime we've been playing live all the time, working on soundtracks and developing as a collective."
This metamorphosis can be heard in several ways. The different contexts in which Barrow, Fuller and Young are involved provide the band with ever new input. But also the immediate act of creation within the band has changed due to the external circumstances. To get to the finish line of the new album, the band took a path that was opposite to their usual direction. Barrow: "Normally we go into the studio, try a few things out and then record tracks that we develop live on the following tours. This time we simply lacked the opportunity...
