Beak>

Beak> main man (and Portishead producer/multi-instrumentalist) Geoff Barrow is such a perfectionist that Portishead has only managed to release three albums in the past fifteen years. So it's probably good that Barrow and his new band Beak> (and yup, that actual beak sticking off of the "k" is no typo) are putting some restrictions on themselves; it's the only way they'll ever get anything done. Barrow formed Beak> earlier this year with two fellow Bristol musicians, Billy Fuller and Matt Williams. The band already has an album ready to go. So how did Barrow make an album so quickly after spending more than a decade on Portishead's Third? Easy: He forced himself. The band has some pretty rigorous guidelines in place. They record all their music in one room and they don't use overdubs. The band wrote their entire album over the course of one twelve day session. In a statement about Beak>, Barrow says, "It's really good to create music under different conditions than you're used to."