Amos v Ann
A Cinematic Journey
© 2015 Bek-Jean Stewart
Released June, 2015
Bek-jean’s storytelling skill really hits its stride in this moody, compelling and truly cinematic love story of the creation and disintegration of a family.
Amos v Ann relates the tale of two lovers that come together to travel a very hard road. They share a moment of bliss, from which arise two children, and then the rot sets in, ending in tragedy. When Ann leaves the relationship, Amos reacts violently, then must deal with the guilt, beautifully presented by Bek-jean in the album’s final song, Epitaph. It is Ann’s funeral march, but it is Amos’ as well; his living death, presented on the album as a reprise of the first track.
As always, Bek-jean’s rich, layered voice confounds the listener’s ears with complexity, whilst carrying them along an emotional roller coaster ride on velvet tracks.
Recorded live, with minimal overdubs, Amos v Ann boasts a full, raw sound that spans a range of instrumentation and a maturing depth of talent that promises to be a landmark in Bek-jean’s continuing musical career. Bek-Jean is now touring the new album, and is being lapped up by appreciative audiences wherever she plays.
Winter Summer
Suburban Exile
© 2010 Bek-Jean Stewart
Bek-jean’s second solo album was released through Laughing Outlaw in August 2010. It was a collection of songs that courted the idea of an album as a whole organism.
The evolution of Bek-jean’s songwriting progresses throughout the album as she arrives, at its conclusion, to her maturing, authentic voice as a storyteller.
Winter Summer Suburban Exile is a journey exploring freedom versus restraint, raw and unapologetic in its coverage of such complex terrain. With an emphasis on vocal clarity, the music is allowed to serve as a fertile background for the narrative. The album spans from anthemic songs, with 'St Marys’ Bells' and 'Henson Park Skies', through darker times with 'No Sunrise, No Sunset' and 'Diving Bell', to the lightly romantic 'Money Never Spent on Romance' and 'Only One of You'.
Recorded at Leisure Suit Studios, near Mangrove Mountain, NSW, with long-term collaborators Grant Shanahan, Matt Galvin and Michael Carpenter, who jammed together laying down tracks in a couple of takes, all with an emphasis on understatement ensuring nothing was sonically overworked. Creative direction was driven by Stewart herself, with engineering and co-production support from Shanahan. The result is an album that is strong and instinctive in its melody, and at moments - such as the rise in 'St Marys' Bells' - humbling.
Junior Years
© 2007 Bek-Jean Stewart
Bek-Jean's solo career was launched with Junior YEars in 2007. Released in Australia and Europe through Laughing Outlaw, the album was lauded by critics.
Junior Years tells the story of the struggle between love and hate. The album embodies a rawness, a heart-on-sleeve honesty delivering a gritty frankness that pulls no punches; songs like 'Junior Years', 'Bleed Like A Woman', 'Driving Night, Holy Night' and 'Trainwreck' reveal Bek-Jean's desire to 'have her say'. On the flipside, the more tender tunes like 'Lover Come Over' and 'Lost On The Winding Road' expose the vulnerability and surrender in her acknowledgement of forces bigger than herself.
Bek-Jean's songwriting takes flight from this moment forth, with Junior Years acting as a watershed moment in her newly unfolding career. It was from this moment forwards that she spread her lyrical wings, and never looked back.
