Conveying vulnerable and difficult feelings is more than just a delicate artform. The process of communicating from the depths of the soul and being is something most of us spend our entire lives grappling with and never perfecting, let alone being able to properly express in the first place. What few life coaches, therapists, wellness guru hucksters, influencers and other such self-care industry exploiters is the ancient praxis of articulating aspects of the inner abstraction (either partially in full). There is no one size fits all manual for this, no algorithm that can be gleamed by the mechanisms of machine learning that can allow the individual to channel the complications that dwell in the recesses of the chasms from within. We all have our paths and find our own routes to discern these imperfect truths and their epistemologies from our own inward wellspring. In many ways we are drawn to the artists that can tap into these vulnerable places by way of paintings, songs, moving pictures and other new mediums that connect with us in ways that feel both candid and sacred according to the uniqueness of their presentation, delivery, execution and form.

Tuned into this particular niche craft are the Augsburg/Cornwall group The BV’s who debut the single and visual for “Clipping” from their forthcoming album taking pictures of taking pictures for Shelflife Records/Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten. As the principle duo of Fred and Josh expand to a full band, The BV’s accentuate and expound upon a sound that revels in the sentiments that you never forget and defy the distillation of reductive definitions and descriptors. The group mines through the corridors of the mind and soul to find ways to project how both love and loss alike affect us in the most sublime manners. “Clipping” collects all the ways in which conflicts of the heart impact all the parties involved. Everything from the fiery emotions, the aches, pains, and considerations of purpose that all mesh together like a sporting ball made from the technicolor putty of spent chewing gum.

Complete with a visual Fred made along with the likes of Matt, Hannes, Josh and Berlingo — "Clipping" takes on an inspired life akin to the most beloved life affirming singles and 45s that you keep close to your heart and bedside portable record players. The BV's mix their particular style of melancholy and freewheeling sincerity with a nature hike adventure that mixes together all kinds of bonding activities. Lacing up the cleats and dawning football jerseys and other such athletic attire; the BV's present a hybrid of band team building, ping pong, calisthenics, soccer, a triathlon and somehow manage to incorporate a performance session in the entire mix. The message the group sends is an elevated, actualization of the body, mind and soul in total. Whenever it may seem that the proverbial chips are down, there are always good folks around to lift you up in cathartic commiseration (and maybe games of made up sports and spirited rounds of constructive creativity).

The band shared some insights on their passions, processes and the new single “Clipping”:

One of the main themes of the BV’s has always been abstraction; the space between what is being said and its actual meaning, or whether there is any meaning to be found at all. This is something we explore a lot both in the sound of our music — reverb, lo-fi production, opaque lyrics and buried vocals — and how we actually write the music, using automatic writing and improvisation.

“Clipping” is a really good example of this. The lyrics came out of an automatic writing session during the recording of our second album, Cartography, but were never used, so we repurposed and rearranged them for “Clipping”. At the time I thought the lyrics really meant nothing at all, or at least that there was no intentionality behind whatever they did or might come to mean. It’s only now, a couple of years later, that when listening to the song I see that they really capture how I was feeling when we wrote it — completely lost and unable to deal with everything that was collapsing around me.

“Clipping” is also a great example of this new, full band iteration of the BV's. Both Hannes's barreling, staccato drums and Matt's wandering bass are really prevalent on this song. They're also definitional aspects of the album, which we're really proud of and can't wait to release. After seven years of writing and releasing music as the BV's, it's like we've finally become a proper band.

The BV’s album taking pictures of taking pictures will be available February 16 via Shelflife Records & Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten.