Sea Of Bees, Songs For The Ravens

By J Howell

I became instantly curious about Julie Baenziger’s Sea of Bees a couple of months ago, after seeing a half-page ad for Songs For The Ravens in every audio geek’s bimonthly bible, Tape Op magazine. Being an almost-obsessive Sparklehorse fan, I knew any band compared to Sparklehorse would quickly make the top of my must-check-out list. After reading a bit about Sea of Bees and checking out a YouTube clip of “Skinnybone,” I had to hear more.

As it turns out, there’s more of a connection between Tape Op and Sea of Bees than an ad.

The story goes like this: Audio engineer and Tape Op publisher John Baccigaluppi heard Baenziger singing in the hallway at his Hangar studios while she was there with friends who were recording. Bacciagaluppi introduced himself and offered to record her, and Songs For The Ravens is the result. It’s is the kind of creative recording for which Tape Op is known, so Bacciagaluppi’s influence and interest both make perfect sense.

While Songs For The Ravens isn’t quite what I was expecting, it’s a very, very good record, and in some places, it’s a great record.

Comparisons to the late Mark Linkous aren’t too far off, but Sea of Bees, to my ears, is pretty far removed from a “female Sparklehorse.” While it’s easy to imagine that fans of one band will likely enjoy the other, and there is some similarity in feel between Sparklehorse’s It’s A Wonderful Life and Songs For The Ravens, that’s where the similarities end.

While much of Sparklehorse’s appeal was in Linkous’s surreal imagery, Baenziger’s lyrical approach is much more direct; musically there’s as much in common between the two bands as there is between Sea of Bees and, well . . . anybody else, really, but that’s one of Baenziger’s finer qualities. Sea of Bees are unique, offering much in terms of emotional appeal.

While Songs For The Ravens is a solid and quite beautiful record, getting the most out of it requires attention; most of the songs here don’t exactly pull you in, but are lovely and moving if you’re really listening. There are a lot of details in many of the tracks that are, unfortunately, a little too easy to miss. In a nutshell, that is the only fault of Songs For The Ravens. There are a couple of songs that do reach out and actively grab the listener’s attention, however, and these make it worth your while to pick up the album.

The aforementioned “Skinnybone” is almost freakishly pretty, sweet, and irresistible. There’s an interesting, subtle tension between the fragile vocals and the driving (if somewhat subdued) drums, and if I had to venture a guess, I’d say it’s this song that provides the Sparklehorse reference.

“Sidepain” is easily one of the best songs I’ve heard from a newer songwriter in a long time. While it’s musically much more straightforward than any of the other songs here, it’s simply a great song with the kind of hook that lasts a lifetime after hearing it once. The closest comparison that springs to mind would be a more rocked-out Sam Phillips. “Sidepain” could easily be a huge pop hit, given the opportunity.

Overall, Songs For The Ravens is an impressive record from an artist to watch.

Songs For The Ravens was released on June 1 through Crossbill Records in the US and Heavenly Recordings in Europe. Check out the Sea of Bees website for more information.