LARK 'Be Still' album out 31st January 2025 ft. Emma Richardson (PIXIES)
Lark is an independent London band fronted by founder Karl Bielik, a nonconformist and often idiosyncratic songwriter and artist described by Clash as “a singular voice.” Lark carves a grimy, gritty groove. Heavy basslines, raucous sounds and turbulent lyricism paint a volatile picture of the landscape they inhabit. Romantic, dissonant, feverish and alive, Lark is an unsound sound.
Be Still is Lark’s seventh album and features bass from Emma Richardson (The Pixies) on ‘Decorate’ and the album features artwork from James Johnston (PJ Harvey/Nick Cave/Gallon Drunk), both of whom Bielik knows from the London art scene.
Be Still sees Bielik continue his stylistic writing approach - part improvisation (particularly when performing live) and part cut up technique pioneered by William S. Burroughs whereby Bielik pens whole sections of songs or lines of lyrics on paper, cuts them up into pieces, then puts them together at random. The result are lyrics seen through a distorted fractured lens mirroring the often unsettling, enigmatic musicality which led The Quietus to describe Lark as “That rare breed of band that creates and inhibits an environment entirely of their own making.” On Be Still the fragments tell of uneasy childhood memories re-processed in adulthood with references to Hungarian roots and immigration; the fear of the passing of time and love, birth, decay and death; cultural and art references, and the lingering effects of the pandemic’s dystopia.
On the album's first single ‘Blind’ (October 2024) there’s references to childhood dreams, to Tony Hancock’s The Rebel, Charles Bukowski, and love songs - but presented in the idiosyncratic bruised and bass-heavy Lark style. “It started as a straightforward love song declaring love but ended with the word ‘love’ missing – hence the ‘I…You’ bit in the lyrics” explains Bielik.
On second single ‘Decorate’ (November 2024) a dark, desolate and heavy bassline courtesy of Emma Richardson of The Pixies and Bielik’s gritty, searing vocal, recall Joy Division’s ‘New Dawn Fades’ and The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus in Furs’ - but buried deep in the volatile and unique landscape Lark inhabit. ‘Decorate' is described by Bielik, as: “A filthy little song of healing, forgiveness, loss and hope filtering through a dirty cracked windshield of lo-fi sleaze.”
All songs on Be Still are written, recorded and mixed by Karl Bielik at LBR Studios, London. Mastered by Paul Galpin. Additional credits include Paul Burke on guitar (‘Be Still’, ‘Blind’, ‘Powders’, ‘She Breaks’ and ‘The Underpass’), Emma Richardson (The Pixies) and Tarn Willers on bass (on ‘Decorate’ and ‘Powders’ respectively), Joe Ryan on drums (‘Blind’, ‘Powders’ and ‘She Breaks’), Rayna Ferner on violin (‘The Ink House’), Robert Hall and Lorna Milburn on backing vocals (‘The Ink House’), and lastly Bielik’s daughter Ava Bielik offers both backing vocals and the sound of her heartbeat, recorded whilst in the womb and distorted on ‘She Breaks’.
Both album singles are accompanied by short films, ‘Decorate’ is created by artist Al Jackson and ‘Blind’ by Charlie Bonallack and Kaz Raad, with Bielik inviting various artists to create the individual visuals for Be Still, with the cover art the work of Ben Walker and the back cover by Donna Mclean, with label art from James F Johnston, cover photograph by Lydia Whitmore, and art and design by Ciaran O’Shea.
BE STILL TRACKLIST:
Be Still
Blind
Decorate
Goodbye Man
She Breaks
Shimmy
The Underpass
Answer
Sixpence
The Ink House
Powders
PRESS QUOTES:
“The wonky unsettling world it creates is very much Bielik's own.” Uncut
“A dark subcurrent of industrial noise runs under raspy vocals punctuated by driving basslines that fuel this idiosyncratic album.” MOJO
“That rare breed of band that creates and inhibits an environment entirely of their own making.” The Quietus
“One of the albums of the year... one of the most exciting albums around.” Louder Than War
“Fantastic, sounds like a drunken, dense and dark take on a Stooges riff mixed with the repetition of The Fall.” Rough Trade
“Jerky beats, repetition, strangely cryptic lyrics, wiry guitars and manic psycho-bluesy vocals.” Loud & Quiet
“Swathe upon swathe of FX-laden sonic attack, as Bielik tears out his tortured soul.” Vive Le Rock
“Another dose of uber-anxious lurching and lo-fi post punk.” Time Out
“The menace lurking just beneath the surface is as contemporary as it is compellingly groovy.” Metro
“Between the ramshackle party punk of The Cramps andthe more eccentric skronk of Beefheart.” Norman Records
“Lark is quite a singular voice.” Clash
CONNECT WITH LARK:
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