Boy & Bear

Australian combo Boy & Bear rose to popularity in the early part of the 2010s playing evocative and heartfelt indie folk-rock in the vein of contemporaries like Fleet Foxes, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Mumford & Sons. They made a huge impact at home with their platinum-selling 2011 debut, Moonfire, followed by two consecutive chart-topping albums and a series of world tours. After a three-year break, the band returned to work with the dynamic Suck on Light in 2019.
Formed in 2009 as a solo vehicle for Sydney-based singer/songwriter Dave Hosking, Boy & Bear quickly grew into a more collaborative affair with guitarist Killian Gavin, bass player Jake Tarasenko, and brothers Tim (drums) and Jon Hart (mandolin, keyboards) joining the fold. Before long, the quintet inked a record deal with Island Records on the strength of its independently released first single, “Mexican Mavis.” Boy & Bear’s debut EP, With Emperor Antarctica, appeared in early 2010, followed in 2011 by their debut long-player, Moonfire, which went platinum in their native Australia and netted them four ARIA Awards. A year later, the band endured its first lineup shift with Tarasenko being replaced on bass by Dave Symes. Recorded in Nashville, the band’s sophomore outing, 2013′s Harlequin Dream, performed similarly well, debuting at number one on the Australian charts and eventually going platinum a few years later.
Boy & Bear’s third album was captured, as much as possible, live in the studio direct to tape with producer Ethan Johns (Paul McCartney, the Vaccines), and represented a shift into synth-aided guitar pop. Titled Limit of Love, it arrived in October 2015 and marked their second consecutive Australian chart-topper. After a period of personal tumult, the band resumed work in the studio and resurfaced in 2019 with the triumphant Suck on Light. ~ James Christopher Monger