After their last EP, I honestly wasn’t sure we were gonna get a next album from Spirit of the Beehive. Following the break-up of bandmates Zach Schwartz and Rivka Ravede, i’m so lucky was very… tense, lyrically. Not all break-ups are smooth and the venting of hostilities definitely did not give the vibe that things were all peaches and cream. Plus the history of music says not to bank on a post-break-up band – but fortunately, I was wrong and we made it.
Their fifth album, You’ll Have To Lose Something, is a remarkable showcase of a band expanding upon their sound while also managing to keep all the things that made the original sound so elite in the first place – even after one of the more challenging moments in the bands history. Spirit of the Beehive bring in some assistance, a rare thing for them to do instead of turning to samples, to help on the intro “THE DISRUPTION”. DeeDee of MSPAINT has a very aggressive chant-like delivery on the track and the change is a great style shift from how mellow most of the rest of the album would be.
‘Break the spell
Disenchant all the evil in your head
Rectify existential dread, you do not fear the dead
So there’s hope and you flourish in this energy you feel dilated by the pureness of your soul
Now you heal
There is a place light moves through
The dimensions are impossible to be true to
And then a shot rings out: it bellows‘
Some of their usual shoegaze, dream pop, indie rock, and psych influences, as well as their heavy sample usage are toned down and traded for a style that drifts closer to a classic pop sounds at times. You’ll Have To Lose Something is very strings- heavy, and they always help lead to an incredibly angelic sound throughout to help with some of the darkness lyrically, mainly on “STRANGER ALIVE” and “SUN SWEPT THE EVENING RED”. The latter is especially good instrumentally; it almost drifts to a classical sound before some mellow guitar’s come in and helps slowly wind the track back to a twitchy rock vibe. If you want the louder, more scattershot sound that Spirit of the Beehive have traditionally excelled at, tracks like “THE CUT DEPICTS THE CUT” bring some loud ass drums and some glitchy effects. “1/500” is my favorite track on the album. I love the beat progression and the guitar work throughout. The way the instrumental flips after ‘nobody left to keep the score when we both supernova’ sounds fucking incredible.
Their traditional abrasive and confrontational lyrical style still remains, more often than not leading to a fantastic style clash that the band has always thrived at. “LET THE VIRGIN DRIVE” is a charming track about kidnapping and stalking but if you space out and don’t listen very close to the lyrics you’d still be wowed at how charming and smooth Schwartz’s vocal delivery is and how elegant the instrumental is. The kidnapping themes are pretty consistent throughout You’ll Have To Lose Something (not gonna speculate on what that meant about the breakup but it’s definitely not positive) and large parts of the album take place from the kidnapper’s perspective. The simple guitar playing on “SORRY PORE INJECTOR” and the incredibly catchy vocals (Ravede’s sing-songy vocals towards the backend are excellent) from both performers really rope you in and cover up the haunting lyrics.
The catchy and bouncy “I’VE BEEN EVIL” is a great moment of self-reflection amidst the chaos. Love the way the track slows in the middle as it refocuses on the kidnapper’s psyche. It switches a bit on the angelic sounding “FOUND A BODY” and lines like ‘something is coming to get us‘ and ‘arms tied behind me‘ delivered from Ravede seem to be from the victim’s POV. Closing the narrative on the excellent album finisher “EARTH KIT” with the repeated ‘what if I need people?‘ helps bring it all together and end on at least a slightly positive note as some growth is shown.
A new laid-back sound, bringing on guests, and refining what made their past albums excellent make You’ll Have To Lose Something a highlight of the band’s career to date. Thankfully, the vibes around the band are moving in a much more positive direction and it seems like Spirit of the Beehive have stabilized and will be able to keep things moving to where the creative growth and excellence will be matched with personal stability. I’ve rarely been happier to be wrong.
