Every Step’s A Yes is an intricately constructed evolution, a mild-mannered yet ultimately powerful release three years in the making.
Anyone familiar with The Bees’ back catalogue would love to exercise their prejudice in approaching Every Step’s A Yes. With such songs as Who Cares What The Question Is?, These Are The Ghosts and Chicken Payback in their illustrious past, one could hazard a guess as to the nature of this new offering. Fortunately, the band from the Isle Of Wight aren’t out to repeat themselves. In fact, Every Step’s A Yes is an intricately constructed evolution, a mild-mannered yet ultimately powerful release three years in the making.
The sunny, spirited ode of I Really Need Love ensures a promising start, an ultra-cool reggae-coloured Winter Rose soon following, complete with a touch of organ. Winter Rose is the first real indication of things to come, Every Step’s A Yes soon forging an anywhere-but-here aesthetic. It drifts in a perpetuated relaxation toward an almost otherworldly experience. This calculated and curious detachment is heard all through the band’s eclectic mix of indie rock, folk and even country; a methodical and mature approach the defining consistency. The Bees, however, seem to strike gold in whatever they attempt.
Island Love Letter is one such highlight, a disarmingly beautiful, winding lullaby tucked away within the middle order. It’s gems such as this that do so much – in one song – to capture the tone of the release.
Though the opening track is to be celebrated, it paints a deceptive picture of the album in that it’s arguably the most energised addition to Every Step’s A Yes, but for, perhaps, the penultimate track Pressure Makes Me Lazy, which is bewitching in its percussive chaos. For a sextet, The Bees display remarkable restraint, offering a pulled back, atmospheric approach. It’s a focused effort and immediately so, the stripped, back-to-basics tact highlighting strong songwriting sensibilities previously second fiddle, more often than not, in the band’s overall appeal.
Quietly moving, Every Step’s A Yes is perhaps a record best enjoyed on a warm summer’s evening in isolation, its subtle charms leaving the listener awash with mellow contentment. That the record should prove, in such a way, so potent and yet never imposing or abrasive is to The Bees’ credit indeed. Sit back, relax and enjoy.
Nick Mason
