Bear's Den are Andrew Davie (guitar, vocals), Joey Haynes (guitar), and Kev Jones (drums, bass). Since forming in 2012, the London based trio has built a fervent fanbase through their live shows and a dedicated DIY aesthetic that originally saw them self-fund tours and sell hand printed CDs direct to fans at gigs.

In two short years, Andrew, Joey and Kev quietly went from pub shows to a jaw dropping headline gig at the Brixton Electric in front of 1500 people. Their appearance at Mumford & Sons' Summer Stampede saw them play in front of a 60,000 strong, sold out crowd in London's newly landscaped Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In the US, the band played support tours with Mumford and Sons and Daughter and festival shows on the Gentlemen Of The Road Stopover Tour in both the US and Canada. And in Australia they won fans last year when opening for Matt Corby on his national tour.

"That was the point we really bonded as a band," acknowledges Davie. "And it was the most comfortable we've ever been on tour too!" Debut EP Agape (from the Greek for ‘love') saw them integrate highbrow lyrics into a musical landscape spanning English folk and dusty Americana. Follow up Without/Within was more progressive still, with breezy guitar pop, (Writing On The Wall) reflective dream-rock (Sahara Pt II) and banjo-laden laments (Don't Let The Sun Steal You Away) emerging from within a panoramic wash of synth bass and guitar loops. None of which fully prepares you for Islands.

Recorded with long-term producer Ian Grimble (Travis/Manic Street Preachers) at Crouch End's Church Studios, it's lyrically both restrained yet richly descriptive, the product of Davie's novelistic approach to songwriting. "I've always been interested in the way Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway leave room for interpretation," he explains. "It allows the listener to have their own individual relationship with the songs."

Songs you can sing along to on the radio but which still glow in the dark - Islands might just be the album of 2014.