Beatenberg’s “Ode To The Berg Wind” is an idyllic moment of harmony

Watch the Cape Town band’s new single ahead of new album 12 Views Of Beatenberg.

November 22, 2018

South Africa's Beatenberg make delicate indie-rock songs that bubble under with grooves pulled from house music. Never is this more evident than on new single "Ode The Berg Wind," the trio's new single premiering above via The FADER.

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The track is featured on the band's forthcoming album 12 Views Of Beatenberg and is accompanied by a video directed in Cape Town by local photographer and filmmaker Jarred Figgins. The pastoral imagery in the video, shot on a beach in the band's capital city, provides vocalist Matthew Field a backdrop on which to showcase his acute vocals. Stunning mountain ranges pass by in the background before the band make their way into the sea, ending the peaceful clip by diving into the waves and submerging themselves beneath the surf.

Speaking to The FADER via email, Field explained: “As a child in Cape Town I was told that the warm, rain-bringing wind that put me in a wild and important-seeming mood was called a 'berg wind.' With the title, I had "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Shelley in mind. I wanted to make some sort of mock-sincere-but-mainly-sincere tribute to a wind I loved, but I was also ready to embrace whatever comical failure such an effort might involve.

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“While I was writing the lyrics there was a very bad drought in Cape Town. The song seems to have a lot to do with kinds of dryness, and there seems to be something wrong with the wind addressed in it. Although waves and tears are mentioned, both of those are salty and not fit to drink.”

Check out the video above. Beatenberg's 12 Views Of Beatenberg is released on December 14.

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Beatenberg’s “Ode To The Berg Wind” is an idyllic moment of harmony