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Spirit of the Beehive have such a long trail of essentially perfect albums behind them that their ability to reinvent and outdo themselves with each consecutive release truly blows my mind. Youâll Have To Lose Something is probably their most narratively cohesive record â it loosely follows the romantic split between band members Rivka Ravede and Zach Schwartz â but rather than a retelling of events the album is a meditation on the deep discomfort of uncertainty, the (often unfulfilled) need for interpersonal understanding, and a fear of letting go. Wish I couldnât relate!Â
Spiritâs work has always felt defined by a tightrope act between moments of abject horror and moments of transcendent beauty, often occurring in such rapid succession that you canât distinguish one from the other. Youâll Have To Lose Something contains both the bandâs most genuinely terrifying moments (if you turn your headphones up around the halfway point of âLet The Virgin Driveâ you can barely hear someoneâs guttural scream for help) as well as their most timelessly beautiful numbers.
Spirit of the Beehive remains one of the most fascinating and innovative acts using the traditional âguitar bandâ setup â their harmony is endless and complex while anchored by a deep understanding of pop structure, their time signatures refuse to stay still for too long, and the production is among the most dynamic and maximalist laid to record this year. Theyâre a once-a-generation talent with an uncanny ability to mine the darkest undercurrents of the human psyche and craft something fresh, something beautiful, and something surprisingly, disarmingly hopeful out of it. To many more!
Dec 30, 2024
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Listened to this the whole thing today on my break at work and I canât describe the feeling of it. It was a good feeling but also a strange one. A good strange feeling. i love how every project is so different from the one before it.
Aug 25, 2024
Seven years ago The Ophelias made Always, the prettiest indie album ever.
This new album, produced by Julien Baker, isnât so pretty. The instruments are turned up and chaotic. Spencer Peppetâs vocals can be difficult to find in that loud mix when first listening, but theyâre there and theyâre urgent. Her lyrics are like poems with choruses. They arenât always the most rhythmic or musical, like itâs more important to get her thoughts out than to craft a perfect verse.
Theyâve tagged this album as âmermaid rockâ and ânature punkâ and I think youâll see that those are fitting descriptions!
Cumulonimbus is a good song to start with. Salome is a banger!
Apr 8, 2025
a year ago, a girl i was going out with recommended this album to me, after i heard the song "Insecure" while we made out in her car. a year later, we don't really talk anymore, but i finally listened to this album all the way through... and i loved it so much that i felt compelled to text her and thank her profusely for the recommendation. i kept my text to her short and sweet, but i have a lot to say about this special album.
i'm jewish, and though i'm not a religious person, i've been thinking a lot about religion lately and what it means to me. growing up, i went to synagogue with my family for the high holidays, and i didn't particularly connect with any of the scripture in this sterile environment. throughout college, i was involved in an alternative jewish space that welcomed everyone as they were and centered social justice, and we hosted events where we got to share food, space, songs, hopes for the future, etc.
now that i'm not in college, and not living with my family, i'm figuring out what religion means to me at an individual level and how it affects the way i interact with the world around me. it's been years since i've been to a synagogue, but i try to go to concerts as much as i can, because music means the world to me and experiencing it in a live setting, in community, is sacred... and by sacred, i mean that it commands your full attention, it swallows you whole, forces you to let go.
i haven't experienced this album in a live setting, and because northern picture library have since disbanded, i likely never will. but the other day, after smoking some weed, lighting some candles, laying on the floor in almost complete darkness, and playing this album on my noise-cancelling headphones, i saw god in my room.
every sound on every song envelops you completely. the vocals, the harmonies, the organ, the field recordings, the synths, the guitars, the lyrics... everything is perfection in its purest form. the mix makes it sound so close to you, yet so far away. the overexposed album cover feels incredibly fitting, with every song making up a sliver of a bright and beautifully blinding heaven. and it doesn't surprise me at all that the length of this album is an angel number (1 hr 11 mins).
i can't remember the last time i was this moved by an album. it solidified my desire to, one day, go to divinity school and do extensive research on the many religious qualities of music; i still have loans to pay, life to live, and lots of music to listen to, but i'm excited to go down this rabbit hole one day. it's kind of funny that i've come to this conclusion honestly, considering that the girl who recommended this to me is majoring in religion, and i never thought i would want to study religion at an academic level. i guess this is just a testament to how everyone you meet, and especially everyone you care about (or have cared about), are woven into the fabric of your life, no matter how long they're a part of it. what goes around comes back around... life is a spiral!
i hope you take the time to listen to this album and let it move you. i can't promise you'll see god (we're still getting to know each other), but i guarantee it'll restore your faith... if not in god, then in yourself <3
Oct 1, 2024
Top Recs from @clarke
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âUsing the social media app feels like a slower, less chaotic, and more intimate version of twitter. Youâre prompted to answer questions like âwhat did you read last week?â and a small group of friends chime in. Thereâs no algorithms or popularity contests.â
round of applause for tyler
Feb 6, 2024
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âi woke up on a 747 flying through some stock footage of heavenâ
Feb 9, 2024
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positive reframing
Feb 1, 2024