Beta Radio Releases New EP ‘Afraid of Love’
January 8, 2021 BY Nettwerk
“Vocally engaging, lyrically intelligent, and instrumentally enchanting.” — Indie Obsessive
“Have the oxygen tank or a paper bag nearby because ‘Afraid of Love’ will have you gasping for air and hearts aflutter. It is a mixture of Bon Iver’s and S. Carey’s gentle, folktronica caresses and Matt Berninger’s brooding tenderness, leaving all in its wake in a state of unforgettable bliss.” — The Revue
“a lush landscape comprised of poetic and intricate detail in each note” — Independent Music Reviews
“cinematic in an emotionally impactful way” — Glide Magazine
“tranquil and layered” — American Songwriter
Ethereal folk duo Beta Radio (Benjamin Mabry and Brent Holloman) release their new EP, Afraid of Love. Of the EP, Mabry says, “2020 has brought a lot of things to the world. One thing it delivered me was presence. I spent a lot of years regretting my past or trying to make decisions that would assure I avoided regret in my future. I was always somewhere else in my head, never able to just be right here. But I’m learning to be here more, and that makes me see what’s right in front of me. And what’s in front of me, in the world, is love. And the lack of it.” Listen to the EP here: https://betaradio.ffm.to/afraidofloveep.
The hypnotizing title track features strings from Grammy Award-winning arranger and string player Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Paul Simon, Taylor Swift, Alabama Shakes), and was released alongside a powerful music video that plays like a short film. Mabry says of the track that inspired the EP’s title, “I’ve spent most of my recent songwriting career trying NOT to write about love. It’s done so much, (we’ve done it so much), and I was tired of it. It got to the point that when I would sit to write song lyrics, I would try to be intentional to not use the word ‘love’ because it was already everywhere my ear turned. But then the new year arrived. And then the world got sick. And then we all saw again how broken our system(s) of justice are. And so, it seemed that love was all that I could write about. Even if I am sometimes afraid of it.”
Afraid of Love is the sister EP to this summer’s Way of Love EP, which features an array of talented musicians, including drums from The National’s Bryan Devendorf, horns by frequent Bon Iver collaborator CJ Camerieri, and fiddle by Mipso’s Libby Rodenbough. Listen to Way of Love here.
Beta Radio artfully and carefully piece together their ethereal folk sound with an architect’s attention to detail and a carpenter’s work ethic. The Afraid of Love and Way of Love EPs follow their acclaimed 2018 full-length album and Nettwerk debut, Ancient Transition, an album cast in folk-style lyricism, Americana spirit, and orchestral experimentation.
