LISTEN: China Bears - 'Jolene'

China Bears have been busy through this crazy year, playing streaming shows and recording performances for blogs, radio stations and labels alike. I adore the stairwell performance of I'm Not Eating Like I Used To that they sent in for the blog's fifth birthday earlier in the year, which you can catch up on here. A few weeks back, they've just shared their third single of the year, taken from their upcoming second EP Statue Still, due early next year. Jolene is everything I've come to love from the band, a lovely heartfelt (if a little sad) slice of indie - or as the press release so beautifully puts it - "a lithe indie mini-drama". China Bears are the band I'll head towards if I want to feel a little sad but be surrounded by great music. 

Talking on the track, the band explain that it "was written about facing the difficulties of separation and the vulnerable positions we tend to put ourselves in for one another. It's sort of making light of the pain that comes with healing, but at the same time feeling proud you were able to give your all to someone, even though it doesn't work out sometimes." 

China Bears · Jolene

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LISTEN: China Bears - 'Statue Still'

"out of the woodwork come all my friends, but I'm too caught up in all I want to hear what I need" 

I braved the outside world to meet a couple of friends for breakfast today, bought a lot of books and then saw a man dressed as Mr Bean selling Teddy(s) from a suitcase.... that's more than enough of the real world for one day. Now: time for something new! I loved discovering China Bears (through my blog submissions, I think) last year - their I've Never Met Anyone Like You EP was one of my favourite releases of the year and it was a treat to see them playing a set at Sofar Sounds in Oxford about a year ago, and to meet them after. Ivan referencing a post from the blog made me a very happy blogger - you mean, people actually read this stuff?! 

They're back with Statue Still, the title track of an upcoming EP due for release via Fierce Panda. As is their style, it treads the line between being mellow and sort of anthemic, touching on some slightly dark subject matter. Frontman Ivan explains that "'Statue Still' is written about those initial stages of loss and healing. For me it's like the feeling you get after you watch a great film in the cinema. The film is over and you now have to go home, but you just want to stay in that theatre and be in that world for a little while longer. You're aware it's over but you didn't want it to end and you weren't ready, so you're just stuck in that in-between. You can't stay forever though, and it's better to walk yourself out that the ushers coming to remove you." 

China Bears · Statue Still

Having had a trip to the US for SXSW 20 cancelled and their March tour pushed back, it's been pushed back again to March next year. Fingers crossed for them to get to play! Tickets here.

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LISTEN: VC Pines - 'Bones'

Loving this - VC Pines (aka Jack Mercer, ex Carnabys frontman) has shared his latest solo track, Bones, via Fierce Panda Records. His first new music since his successful EP Indigo, it is a really soulful tune, carrying the energy and sound of his live shows, where he is often backed with an eight-piece band and a whole lot of brass. He explains that Bones was "inspired by the film 'Onibaba', a vintage Japanese film with themes of war, romance, famine and death. The protagonist of the film becomes a stalker in the name of love due to such desperate times as a way of survival and this is something that I wanted to explore: to get in the mind-set of someone with such infatuation that they become obsessive. 'Bones' is written from within the mind-set of a teenage stalker in present day." 

Bones is the first track from his upcoming second EP, which is set for release in early 2020. The EP has a colour-coded theme, with Jack exploring his synaesthesia through the tracks. He explains (and this is genuinely fascinating) that "I found out what synaesthesia was during a lecture at music college, when the lecturer seemed to be describing how my brain worked. I always thought that that's how everyone saw the world and that various senses were triggered by certain things and that's just how we lived. Then when I realised that wasn't the case, and that I had something different, I started to use it as a tool." 

"Since then I've always used my synaesthesia, particularly chromosthesia to write songs. 'Bones' as a whole song for example is orange in colour in my head, with shades of violet/purple to add darker elements in certain areas [...] it all helps me visualise the song whilst writing to create something that I really feel when playing live on stage. I can see and feel the song as it moves throughout." 

VC Pines heads on a string of UK shows in April, taking in Brighton's Prince Albert (1st), London's Omeara (2nd), Leeds' Oporto (16th) and Bristol's Crofters Rights (24th.)

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LISTEN: China Bears - 'Sunday'

Following their lively recent single Stay For Good, Somerset's China Bears are back with Sunday. Slower in pace to begin with, the track is a far more intimate and vulnerable release, building to a more energetic outro reminiscent of the likes of Dry The River and The National.

Guitarist Frazer explains that the track was "written about one particular Sunday afternoon. I had just moved away from home to university and became extremely isolated and insecure in myself and my abilities, and on that day it was a little too much. I think everyone goes through that feeling at some stage, circumstances cause friendships and relationships to change and you can feel like people aren't there for you anymore." 

"It's very honest and seems bleak but looking back I think it's quite hopeful. Its understanding I was struggling and being lucky enough to have someone there to confide in. I remember it being quite a quick writing process but it took a while with extensive sessions to get it sounding how it is now." 

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WATCH: China Bears - 'Stay For Good'

With a sound sitting somewhere along the lines of Blaenavon and influences including The National, Dry The River and The Maccabees, Buckinghamshire based quartet China Bears are back with the video for their latest single Stay For Good. It is a punchy indie anthem with some pretty emotive lyrics... "the less I know love the less it hurts". The track is the first single they've released through Fierce Panda Records (a band / label match made in heaven based on those names!) and it is taken from a forthcoming EP which they'll be releasing in Summer as the label celebrates its 25th birthday.

Originally forming in Somerset in 2015, China Bears are twin brothers Ivan (guitar/vocals) and Frazer (guitar) with James (bass) and Dean (drums) joining the band at university in Guildford later that year. With a few self-released singles under their belt they've had a lot of radio support and have opened for the likes of Gengahr, To Kill A King and The Big Moon along the way. Check out the new video below...

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