New Music: BED – heart shaped bed

Like a funereal hymn for the end of the world, heart shaped bed by Berlin’s BED brings shoegaze into shadowed spaces I never would have expected.

BED is a queer, Berlin-based outfit founded by Argentinian bass player Sol Astolfi and Chilean vocalist Nicolás Astorga, who later invited German guitarist Ema Schiller to join them, turning the duo into a trio.

Liquid percussion drives the track, and a looping guitar line – one that sparkles with clarity before suddenly almost losing form – acts to highlight the eerily pitched vocals that have a deliberate ambiguity that adds to the sense of dislocation within the track.

More like a series of movements tied together by current themes than a simple song, it’s a haunting but emotionally rewarding piece of music. It’s a remarkable moment in their new everything hurts LP.

Says the band about the song, “heart shaped bed seeks to create a bridge between sexual desire and emotional abyss.”

“Echoing the androgynous vocals, the main character fluidly shifts gender identities across four acts – from coping through intimacy to escapism in the form of euphoria, it reflects on one’s ego and its coping with breakdown and heartbreak. It is an homage to a cliffhanger, a heartfelt funeral of the tortured self and the disappearance of the other.”

You can find everything hurts in digital and vinyl formats on Bandcamp. The album can also be heard on Spotify and YouTube – for other listening options, follow the band on Instagram.