Harlequin Dream

Within weeks of finishing work on 2011's award-winning, internationally renowned debut LP, Moonfire - months before it was even released - singer / songwriter Dave Hosking was hit by a creative tsunami. Boy & Bear is a band that likes to follow their muse - and the new songs were flowing.

The cocoon-like existence of working together in a strange new environment - Nashville, in the case of Moonfire - generated its share of magic, but Hosking and his fellow Boy & Bears wanted to bring it all back home, to get back to where their musical journey began in 2009. His band mates Tim Hart, Killian Gavin, Jon Hart and new(ish) addition, bassist (and table tennis ace) David Symes, agreed. 'Good art is personal,' says Hosking, 'it comes from a really personal place. These new songs started in my living room, and it made sense to keep this local, and let our personalities and experiences filter into the record.'

The record in question is Harlequin Dream, their bold and brave new album, conceived and 'birthed' in their hometown of Sydney. And they couldn't have picked a more appropriate venue in which to make the magic happen: the legendary Alberts studio, the spiritual home of AC/DC, the Easybeats and many, many other homegrown legends. It may no longer be in its original CBD base, but Alberts remains Oz music ground zero, a sacred site. The perfect place for Boy & Bear to make their new musical statement, with the able guidance of ARIA award winning producer Wayne Connolly, who the band first met when they worked together on a cover of Neil Finn's 'Fall at your feet', a live favourite and a hit single. 'Once we got home from Nashville', Hosking continues, 'we thought, "Bugger it, let's do it more effectively next time." ' Alberts proved to be just the place.