There’s always been a melancholy tug to Boy & Bear, dating back to their slow, banjo-flecked 2010 version of Crowded House’s “Fall at Your Feet,” which eventually achieved multiplatinum status. But that’s not to paint the Sydney band as a perennial downer. “Dig deep enough and there is optimism,” singer/guitarist Dave Hosking told Apple Music in 2023. “There is always optimism.” A solid case in point is their 2011 single “Feeding Line,” which looks to the future with almost feverish hope: “Oh and I want to be somebody, somebody, someone.” While originally pigeonholed as a gentle alt-folk band, Boy & Bear bulked up their harmony-soaked sound with 2013’s Harlequin Dream—see the Fleetwood Mac-inspired rock of lead single “Southern Sun”—before exploring synth melodies and lockstep rhythms on 2015’s Limit of Love. Later albums have drawn upon Hosking’s long-term health travails and other personal setbacks, including the career-halting pandemic. After returning from the latter and dabbling in self-production, the band has continued to put a fresh spin on Americana and other classic sounds. And coming full circle on 2025’s “Where Does Life Begin,” Hosking looks back to the innocence of his twenties as a leaping-off point for everything that’s happened since.