Thursday 8 August 2019

WATCH: Bear's Den - 'Hiding Bottles'

Back in April, Bear's Den released one of my favourite records of the year in the shape of third studio album So that you might hear me. I was lucky to have an early stream of the album for a review, and an instant favourite for me was opening track Hiding Bottles. I'm excited to share that it is their latest single and that the band have just released a video for the track!


Focusing around the lyric "I'm keeping it together but you don't know the half of it / It's starting to show / I'm not on top of this" the track is a powerful and poignant one for the band's vocalist Andrew Davie. He explains that the song is "about life with an alcoholic relative. It's an exploration of the inability to reach someone and the isolation that intrinsically creates." Having been through this experience himself, Davie sought help from charity Al-Anon, who offer support meetings and a community for those with friends and family that struggle with alcohol addiction.

He explains that "I think the main thing Al-Anon allowed me to understand was that there are just so many people going through issues caused by having an alcoholic friend, loved one or relative - how many lives can be affected by just one life. For us as a band to work with Rollo and be able to make a video that might ring true for other people who could be looking for help or support was something we really wanted to do. The idea that the video could potentially help lead someone to an organisation that has helped me and so many others and could help them just feels really right to us."

The video follows a teenage girl and the pressures that her father's alcohol addiction places upon her and the rest of the family. Director Rollo Jackson explains the use of a "full cast of identical twins and in-camera effects" to seamlessly split the video into two parallel worlds. This process is used to highlight something which became apparent through research of Al-Anon case studies, whereby families going through these situations might exhibit two versions - "one fighting to keep everything 'normal' and another private version, out of control." 

I've a lot of love for the band anyway (is it obvious yet?) and love that they are using their platform to spread the word about something which affects so many people but which isn't always talked about. Al-Anon state that for every problem drinker in the UK, five other people are affected. For more information on the charity and to get help for you or somebody you know, head to their website here.

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