Portishead producer Geoff Barrow brings his new band Beak> to American shores for the first time tonight. A notorious studio tweaker, Barrow is making the most of this chance to rock off the cuff: after an 11-year wait for the most recent Portishead album, the Beak> debut was written and recorded in just 12 days. When we had a word with him, Barrow explained, “In a world of absolute computer-based shit-sounding commercial music… It’s nice to take a wrong turn.”
This welcome “wrong turn” is nevertheless temporary: Barrow assures us that “Portishead and Beak> [will both] hopefully… be very productive in the near future.” Which suggests that Portishead’s Fourth may be only a decade away. For now, we’ll very happily focus on the current project. We’ve already got our tickets.
Beak> perform tonight with People of the North at Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancey St, Manhattan) / 9p / $20 / more info / directions