“Leb Off” with the B side “Brocadine” is the newly released single by The Bevis Frond from the forthcoming album Focus on Nature (releasing March 1). As always, the Bevis Frond is fronted by visionary psychedelic revivalist Nick Saloman. Long gone are the early days of Saloman producing four-track recordings as a solitary effort in his London bedroom. Since the early Nineties, the Bevis Frond has been a group affair in a proper studio.

According to Saloman, “Leb off” is an old post-war British term short for “London Electricity Board Off.” It was painted on derelict houses as a warning to squatters that there was no running electricity in the home. The lyrics based on this idea are a slice of English observational pop that only Nick Saloman knows how to provide. Beginning with sound effects of trotting horse and calliopes, one is harkened back to the heady days of the Beatles raiding the EMI sound library for “Good Morning,” and George Martin working his magic to splice together carnival organs for “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” Once the music begins though is where the similarity ends. As a superfan of the early DIY Frond albums, I find the straightforward pop acoustic guitar strumming an about-face for the band. Sure, Saloman has loads of acoustic lead tracks throughout the decades of Bevis Frond’s existence, but the gritty guitars are so far in the background that the listener is left with a feeling of musical sterility.