Music Review: Bear In Heaven, Time Is Over One Day Old

By Tyler Hodg

This past August, Brooklyn’s Bear in Heaven released their fourth album, Time Is Over One Day Old. Their signature electro-pop sound is prevalent, but it’s clear a natural growth has occurred since their last record. Although Bear in Heaven’s sound might be “in” right now, their creative songwriting has placed them in a genre of their own.

Time Is Over One Day Old is a musical journey that takes you to places you’ve never been before. With every song brilliantly leading into the next, the album is definitely meant to be listened to as a whole. Its haunting vocals and electro-pop-rock sound make for an incredibly worthwhile experience. The opening track “Autumn” is cool as a cucumber; it has attitude and is in your face, without being obnoxious. Followed up by “Time Between,” the catchiest track on the record, the synth and drums collaborate together to make musical unity. “Demon” is an interesting dance song, while “Dissolve the Walls” is the weirdest, yet coolest, song on the album. It sounds like its title; the delay and reverb are turned to eleven and it feels as if the song itself is dripping downwards and melting. Playing it for someone might make them very confused, but in the context of the album, it adds a new element to an already complex album.

The unfortunate thing about music now is that a lot of bands make an album with a few singles, and add filler tracks in to lengthen it up. Bear In Heaven clearly didn’t get that memo and created an imaginative, inspiring full body of work. Listening to Time Is Over One Day Old is like floating infinitely through space—a constant drive forward, without a set end goal. The album takes you where it wants to go and you’re along for the ride.

Time Is Over One Day Old is not for everyone. Its often monotonous sound makes for an incredibly cohesive album, but might be too much of the same thing for some people. Songs like “Time Between” and “Way Off” are single worthy, but disassociating them degrades the impact that the continuity of the album has, and will relieve you of the altered state you achieve while listening to it from start to finish.

Bear in Heaven’s new record is not so much a departure from their previous work, but a well-crafted progression of the band’s sound. It incorporates multiple genres of music to make a unique blend of captivating songs, leaving it as a collection you’re glad you listened to. The album is the soundtrack to musical freedom and feels like Bear in Heaven had no boundaries regarding what they were able to be musically. When listened to in sequence, Time Is Over One Day Old is a musical voyage that not only alters your mood and emotions, but also your concept of where music is able to take you.

Time Is Over One Day Old was released on August 5 via Dead Oceans.