Written by Kate Peterson

Based out of Bushwick in Brooklyn, dream-folk band Beauty Feast (@beautyfeast) sounds decidedly more country than city. It’s foot-tapping, tambourine-shaking music that makes you want to drink whiskey under the stars. Think Merle Haggard channeled through the vocal chords of 2 twenty-something hipster girls. The band appropriately dubbed their sound as “electrified campfire music.”

Though their debut, Soft Spot, is about drop in a few weeks, it’s still difficult to pinpoint exactly how many people perform in this down-home ensemble. The current headcount is seven, with two singers, an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, synthesizer, bass, and drums, but Beauty Feast has had between 6-8 members since its formation in early 2009.

The two female vocalists, Anna Meyer and Kelly Zutrau, are the primary songwriters, and it’s their ethereal, sing-song voices that really shape the band’s Americana sound. The first single, “It Grows It Grows,” begins with soft vocals and synth but builds into a rowdy, ‘square dance’ barn jam. “Sticky Thighs”, with bluegrass folk straight out of the gate, gets progressively more dreamy and gives the band an opportunity to shine during the knee-slapping crescendo.

Lyrics like “The Fishes, the leaves, they talk to me. I’ve heard them whispering my name,” from “The River” make it easy to see where the band finds inspiration. Three of the band-mates spent time in the wilderness of Western Massachusetts growing up, and the influence of nature comes through in both their songs and laid back stage presence.

Look for their album from Vanity Imprint on Bandcamp, available on CD or download, this June.  Out just in time for summer drives and camping trips. Perfect.