Album Review: Drawn From Bees - The May King & His Paper Crown

Not a week goes by lately without the ever-vibrant Brisbane music community trotting out another release from yet another hard-working band on the rise. The waves lapping at the toes of industry players and audiences began as ripples a few years back from Drawn From Bees due to their near-constant gigging, and now the quartet step forth with another solid release, The May King & His Paper Crown.

Encompassing a wide range of emotions, streams of thought and soundscapes has always been what Drawn From Bees do best, but far from being another repeat outing, this album offers up a more thoughtful, paced sound while further exploring some dark sides of human nature. It's a bit like a Grizzly Bear head-scratcher only with some much needed ballsy guitars thrown in. The intensity put on show in opening track, Eliza, at first hits like a ton of bricks, with rolling toms under bright guitar riffs, singer Dan James' unique but familiar mid-range vocal softening the blow. As Whistling Bone and Ella Got Dead follow in similar vein – each with stalking bass lines, haunting synths and an intense thickening of hazy sounds – it's then that the slight nuances that craft the fragility in James' sharp delivery make themselves known. His voice is delicate and humble, and would be surmised as typically folk.

Towards the latter end of the album, though, the confident trills trail off to almost a sadly desperate sob in Take All Mine and frank pouts in the dark lyrics of The Well Draws No Water. It's catchy, melodic, provocative and thoughtful all at once and deserves undivided attention.