brownbear is the Ayrshire group fronted by singer-songwriter, musician, writer and filmmaker Matt Hickman, who combines a gift for storytelling with his distinctive ‘adopted genre’ of indie-soul.
Their 2014 debut single ‘Dead Or Alive’ was the initial spark that led to positive attention from radio and other media outlets, resulting in support slots with The Libertines at venues like the Barrowlands and Alexandra Palace, as well as several European dates. From this point until the release of debut album ‘What Is Home?’ in 2018, Matt worked on building up a solid fan base for brownbear in Scotland and further afield. As his first record, ‘What Is Home?’ acted as an accumulation of all the highs and lows that Matt had experienced in life until that point, taking listeners on a broad journey that traverses themes of love, loss and identity.
Fast forward to 2020 and the release of the standalone single ‘Retro’, Matt was approaching 30 and feeling reflective about some of the more painful experiences in his life. He describes ‘Retro’ as a pivotal track for the brownbear project, both musically and thematically, because as someone well-equipped to use his art to interrogate complex emotions, he finally felt as though he understood who he was as a person and what his Blackness meant to him. What’s more, he was able to push a soulfulness that he had always longed for in his sound.
As he looks ahead to his next full-length, Matt feels content with where his experiments have taken him but also, how far his storytelling has come since ‘What Is Home?’. He credits this to his work in film and how this has impacted how he structures a narrative, visually and conceptually.
Their dynamic and eagerly-awaited second album ‘Demons’ is due for release on Friday 17 March 2023. ‘Demons’ is without doubt brownbear’s most assured, polished and endearing production yet.