Eliza and the Bear

Eliza and the Bear

Five friends from London (all male: their name is the title of an Eleanor Rees poetry collection) who craft very rousing, very earnest, and very effective indie-folk. This eponymous debut almost buckles with the almighty weight of its euphoric, bittersweet anthems, but the band’s instinctive skill and confidence with a chorus keeps everything on a crest of a wave. “Friends”, “Lion’s Heart”, and “Upon the North” will inspire the sort of lusty sing-alongs on which great festival moments are made, but it’s not all brass-swelled bravado. “Cruel” and “I’m On Your Side” show there’s a maturity beneath the exuberance.

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