Swedish progressive rock band Beardfish has released the video for “Torrential Downpour,” the second single from their upcoming album Songs For Beating Hearts, which is set to drop on November 1, 2024. This marks the band’s first new music since their 2016 breakup.
Songs For Beating Hearts features the band’s signature progressive rock sound. Highlights include the pastoral opener “Ecotone,” the sprawling five-part suite “Out In The Open,” and the 11-minute epic “Beating Hearts.” The album closes with the moody “Torrential Downpour.”
Themes of love, loss, and friendship run through the album. As Rikard Sjöblom explains: “I lost my dad to cancer in 2022 and when this song was written there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it felt almost like a lament. When I later read the lyrics, I realized it was about him, but also about family and our heritage as humans in general – how we all come from two people who also come from two people and no one ever really disappears because we’re all connected in a way. Call me the son of someone you used to know, or someone you never knew – it doesn’t matter. Call me the son of sun… Suddenly it’s not just a lament for someone who’s dead, it’s also a celebration of life.”
Beardfish originally formed back in 2001, and today are made up of Rikard Sjöblom, David Zackrisson, Magnus Östgren and Robert Hansen. They released eight studios albums up until their disbandment in 2016 The band are confirmed for 2025’s edition of Cruise To The Edge.
“I think the reunion became an idea in 2021, a few years ago,” adds Sjöblom. “We started talking about doing something. People had made amends, and I guess everyone started missing being in a band together, and missing each other! We all kept in touch, and things ended up on the right foot in many aspects, and then we started talking about maybe meeting up and trying to play something. I had a couple of new songs written, and they really sounded like Beardfish, and I had some instrumental doodles that I was working on. So we met up and tried to play. The first thing we played was Without Saying Anything from Mammoth, and we started jamming, and it felt like home, even after many years. I felt like, ‘These are my brothers!’“
Songs For Beating Hearts will be available as a limited CD Digipak (with a bonus track), Gatefold LP, and digital album.
The release features artwork by longtime collaborator Spencer Keala Bowden.