Ahead of the release of his 10th studio album – A Bird in the Hand. We here at OriginalRock.net have been sent a copy to review (and listen to on repeat for the next month). Coming off the back of a long summer of festival appearances in which we heard a number of these tracks be performed for their first time and after releasing his first book “Drunk Folk Stories”. Beans on Toast is back with A Bird in The Hand, his tenth studio album since 2009. Quite an achievement when you consider the fact most artists put out an album every 2-3 years. The album, produced by Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons who Beans has worked with numerous times before including on his first album, tells the heartwarming story of the birth of Beans’ daughter and the start of his family. Also on the subject of family is the album’s first single Another Year which we saw him dedicating to his dad for his birthday at Boomtown Fair earlier this year.
The album starts off with these positive family vibes, almost like he’s giving us an update on his life over the past year through song. The album then transitions perfectly from Magic into Here at Homerton Hospital which continues the wholehearted vibe of the album whilst also making you think about everything and everyone that goes into running an NHS hospital. Then he takes a crack at Amazon through his second single Alexa which kind of questions our dependence on technology whilst also letting us see the funny side of our dependence too. The song Bamboo Toothbrush couldn’t be coming out at a better time as the world recognises the detrimental effects of plastic pollution and this song pretty much sums up how bad the situation is whilst also telling you how you can help to reduce your footprint. The album ends on a wholesome note with the songs Watching the world go by, Please give generously and Miss you like crazy. In my personal opinion this is a brilliant album by Beans on Toast, it gives us the type of songs we’ve learned to love and expect from Beans whilst also giving us a new appreciation for the songs about his daughter, who I personally can’t wait to hear more songs about.
A Bird in The Hand is released on Saturday, December 1st and you can find Beans most recent single Magic below!