The career of Brisbane art-rockers Drawn from Bees is a measured exercise in the art of contrast and contradiction. Formed in early 2008, the band’s brief career has been consistently defined by an ongoing negotiation between breathtaking ambition and unpretentious humility.

The band’s four members (vocalist/guitarist Dan James, bassist/vocalist Stew Riddle, guitarist/vocalist Raven Jones and drummer/vocalist Matt Wedmaier) came together over a mutual distaste for the direction of their then-current outfit, veteran prog-rockers Glasshouse, and eventually discarded everything attached to the band – from major label interest to their entire second album – in favour of more honest and open territories.

The irony being that while the band’s members shunned the trappings of record industry success accrued by Glasshouse, Drawn from Bees have proven infinitely more ambitious and exploratory. The group opted to independently write, record and release four records within two years on their own record label Bonefinger Records – releasing The Boy and the Ocean EP in September 2008, mini-album And The Blind Shall Lead the Way in March 2009 and The Sky is Falling EP in October 2009 – with debut album Fear Not the Footsteps of the Departed due for release in May 2010.

The band’s music eloquently expands on their career’s subtle contrast between ambition and humility. While grounded within the realms of accessible and emotionally engaging pop-rock, unforgettable songs like the Triple J endorsed "Long Tooth Setting Sun" veil an intellectual and artistic sensibility of great scope and ingenuity – lush choral-influenced harmonies and endearingly psychedelic guitars conveying conceptual narratives, complex musicianship and avant-garde production techniques.