Be The Bear

Behind the name

In interviews Wehage has commented on her artist name and the story behind it saying she "used to be scared of bears. I used to dream about them every night, roaring and chasing me up old wooden staircases […] When dreams come back again and again, I think it's because you are trying to deal with something. I wasn't facing my fears and challenging myself". "Be The Bear is like an appeal to myself to do the things that I find scary or difficult. To stand up, make noise and challenge myself and others".

Critical reception

The critical reception of Be The Bear's music has been overwhelmingly positive. Elspeth Merry of 1883 Magazine wrote: "Topping the Swedish iTunes charts with single Bad Things and enjoying airplay in the US, Singapore, Germany and Japan, Be The Bear is helping Scandinavian pop gain worldwide status".

Indietheka of Spain named Be The Bear "one of the most exciting acts in recent years from this region of the world", defining her music as "a mixture of sticky sweet electropop and acoustic elements that make her stand next to other acts like The Knife or iamamiwhoami, only Be The Bear does so with stronger colors", while Poland's Music Is wrote that Wehage's voice "seems to swim in places recalling the best achievements of Björk, or the charismatic voice of Florence Welch".

According to The Sound Of Confusion, Be The Bear is "somehow hiding under the radar of much of the UK’s music press, when really she's producing the exact sort of music we should be doing our damnedest to promote and bring decent pop back to the forefront of our insipid commercial music scene. Surely it’s only a matter of time until NME Magazine, BBC Radio 1 and all the other outlets currently playing it remarkably safe take a leap of faith and embrace what she's doing. It’s time to give yourselves a slap in the face and venture beyond the usual suspects”.

Similarly, Born Music proclaimed that "if the pop music industry in the UK has any respect for itself, Be The Bear will be hailed like Gotye and Fun.".

Musical style

When asked about musical genre, Wehage responded "Alternative pop maybe? I don't know, I haven't really found a good one yet. Bad Things is electropop I suppose […] It all depends on where you are emotionally and what you are experiencing. At the moment I feel quite colorful, jumpy and happy, so that is where the music is".

Acid Stag described Be The Bear's music as experimental pop and what would happen "if School of Seven Bells made love to Björk whilst on speed". God Is In The TV Zine depicts the music as "surging forth in a joyous ride of electro pop that shoos and coos bad karma away from your body".

Airplay

Both singles Bump and Bad Things were featured on Musikguiden i P3 on Swedish national public radio station Sveriges Radio P3. They have also received regular rotation on Polish national radio station Roxy Radio, Greece's Radio 1 and UK's Phoenix FM.

Singles

Albums

Compilation albums

Featured in films

Featured in commercials