Bear’s Den & Ciaran Lavery – share collaborative single ‘PROMISER’ before Irish tour later this month

Bear’s Den and Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery have joined forces for ‘Promiser’ – a collaborative new single, released ahead of a fast-selling Irish tour later this month. The track is taken from an EP of the same name, due for release on Communion Records on October 10th.

The track and EP see the two songwriters explore the beauty of simplicity – both lyrically, and in the one-take nature of its recording. As Bear’s Den’s Andrew Davie explains of the process: “There was this lyrical idea early on of trying to write songs that didn’t need innate conflict or tragedy to exist. Songs that celebrated the beauty of love in its more simple, domestic and mundane moments without the need always for high drama. ‘Promiser’ felt like the song that guided the way for us but lyrical ideas like ‘You Don’t Have to be Lonely Anymore’ & ‘How Long Have I been Waiting for You’ felt more like quiet reflections or these tiny epiphanies that occur in a relationship as opposed to overly loud or overblown sentiments.”

Quietly recorded over a five day period at Davie’s home studio, Promiser strips away at the complications of the modern day recording process; an intentional move from Davie and Lavery. There are nods to the desperately laid bare approach of records like Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, Will Oldham’s Viva Last Blues and Adrianne Lenker’s Bright Future, with Davie and Lavery meticulously defining the limitations that would make up the character of this body of work. Rules and restrictions, such as playing the song in its totality each time, helped to create this element of surprise and encourage reaction that was informed by the lyrics and vocal delivery. 

This spirit of embracing the capturing of moments extends to guest musicianship on Promiser by Emma Gatrill and Joshua Burnside, who both feature across the collection with many one-take contributions and what little notes provided based entirely on emotional response.

“After touring together and becoming good friends, I started working with Ciaran with no real aim or vision in mind,” explains Davie. “Very quickly though, we found that we were writing multiple songs in a day. Ciaran is a unique and wonderful songwriter who has so many ideas that emerge so fully formed that often you’d blink and the bulk of a beautiful song would just be sat there in front of us. Being able to witness, collaborate and learn from him as a songwriter was truly a blessing and a privilege.”

Lavery describes how “there’s something truly magical about stripping away all of the mechanics and just looking at each song for what it is. Working with Bear’s Den felt almost entirely accidental, and I have to remind myself of the times sitting across a table with Davie pulling songs entirely apart. I think that says a lot about the way in which we captured these songs and the faith we had in following the feeling of which take felt the best, as opposed to exhaustively listening and tweaking or editing from there.”

‘Promiser’ comes ahead of an Irish tour later this month which will see Lavery opening for Bear’s Den – the run marking Bear’s Den’s first full tour in the country since 2017, and first Irish shows since their last Dublin appearance at the 3Olympia Theatre in 2022.

Early sales saw quick upgrades for shows in Dublin and Belfast, with the upgraded Dublin venue also selling out in 24 hours. The full run can be found below.

BEAR’S DEN IRISH TOUR DATES 2025

with support from Ciaran Lavery

Sun 21 Sep                         Galway           Roisin Dubh

Mon 22 Sep                        Cork                Connolly’s of Leap (sold out)

Tues 23 Sep                       Belfast            Limelight 1 (venue upgraded)

Weds 24 Sep                      Dublin             The Pepper Canister (sold out)

Tickets for all dates are on sale now at bearsdenmusic.co.uk

‘Promiser’ is out now via Communion Records. The Promiser EP is released October 10th.