Polar Bear
Sebastian (Seb) Rochford – drums
Thomas (Tom) Herbert – doublebass
Peter (Pete) Warehem – sax
Shabaka Hutchings – sax
John Burton/aka Leafcutter John – electronics & effects
Amir Shoat – sound engineer
Polar Bear have marked themselves out as one of the most exciting and progressive bands of their generation. Since receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination for Held On The Tips Of Fingers and for In Each and Every One the band, led by Seb Rochford (Paul McCartney, Brian Eno, Beck, Yoko Ono) on drums, has continued to innovate and transcend genre, connecting with jazz, rock, hip-hop, electronic and mainstream audiences alike.
In Each And Every One is Polar Bear’s long-awaited 5th album, the group’s first since 2010’s hugely acclaimed Peepers. It’s certainly their boldest and most dynamic work to date. A remarkable song cycle, offering an expansive arc across deep emotional terrain, it evokes a range of atmospheres: post-industrial scrub, grimy metropolitan house parties, snowy wastelands, dark mountain gatherings.
Perhaps the defining feature of In Each And Every One is space. The band seems to occupy a fixed point in a vast three-dimensional setting: an electronic abyss. At times the players evaporate in a swirling mass of digital distortion, before reappearing through the mist. Saxophonists Pete Wareham (Acoustic Ladyland) and Mark Lockheart (Django Bates) together possess a broad emotional vocabulary, yet here they appear translucent, elusive. Bassist Tom Herbert is irresistible when he plays inside the groove, but does so only occasionally, giving these moments rare power. All this is combined and melted together with the magic touch of electronic wizard Leafcutter John.
