aaamusic | On 26, Jul 2011

Hyde & Beast release their debut album ‘Slow Down’ on 15 August, through their very own label, Tail Feather Records.

 

They are two drummers from the North East, Dave Hyde (Hyde) from The Futureheads and Neil Bassett (Beast) formerly of The Golden Virgins.

 

Together they have made a magnificent record by accident, ‘Slow Down’, with Hyde on vocals and both Hyde & Beast writing, recording, producing and mixing the album themselves, resulting in a very special project born out of a labour of love and a wonderful detour from the pair’s usual musical output.

 

The two drummers recorded at Beast’s Sunderland studio at the rate of one song a day, with Field Music’s David Brewis and solo artist Lucas Renney also providing some beautiful bass and guitar on two tracks ‘Lord, Send For Me’ and ‘You Will Be Lonely’.

 

A sprawling, gentle psychedelic meander, ‘Slow Down’ harks back to a more experimental approach to song-writing, with some of the songs seemingly writing themselves as they recorded live in the studio.

 

Inspired by the music Hyde & Beast love listening to, ‘Slow Down’ recalls a golden age of mainstream pop meeting the sonic adventurism and kaleidoscopic music from the late 60s and early 70s, with more than a nod to the greats of that era Captain Beefheart, Velvet Underground and T-Rex.

 

The project started off innocently enough, with Hyde turning up to Beast’s studio to play a song he had written. Fortunately, he never left and they began recording for the pure enjoyment of making music they liked to listen to.

 

Never intending for it to be made public, it was their friends who convinced them to release it. So it seemed perfect to self-release this very self-made record on the band’s own label.

 

Live, Hyde & Beast become a six strong line up with familiar faces from the North East music scene – including Hyde’s own brother and fellow Futureheads’ bandmate Barry Hyde – joining them for their excursions.

 

You can watch the video for their first official single ‘Never Come Back’ here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpFDZOlVP_U

 

Hyde & Beast will be playing the following dates:

July 30^th: Sunderland, Independent

August 7^th: Newcastle, Ignition Festival

September 18^th: Sunderland, Split Festival

 

London dates are also planned this summer, more details to follow soon.