The 2 Bears - FUV Live - 2015

Euphoric in sound and scope, The 2 Bears' sophomore album,The Night Is Young, picks up seamlessly from where the duo's 2012 debut, Be Strong, left off. Longtime friends Joe Goddard, a core member of Hot Chip, and Raf Rundell, formerly with the label 1965 Records, released a first album that brimmed with rapturous, intelligent house music that addressed both the unifying power of love and, surprisingly, the economic woes of the recession. Humor was also a vital element in their chemistry: in videos, festival gigs and Ibiza DJ sets, Goddard and Rundell delivered their club anthems while frolicking around in bear suits. It's not an approach that many bands could pull off, but the ursine-fixated pals managed to do it with dignity intact.

For the second album, the bear suits were boxed up (they were hot and, as Rundell admitted, overly aromatic after too many wearings), but The 2 Bears still found inspiration in their vast record collections, their sociopolitical concerns, and their observations on fatherhood and family obligations. A trip to South Africa with a youth organization became an important catalyst in the development of The Night Is Young and Goddard and Rundell collaborated with Johannesburg and Soweto artists during recording sessions, like emerging Zulu singer Sbusiso and Kwaito star Senyaka.

Goddard and Rundell visited FUV's Studio A while they were in New York for a DJ gig. Rather than performing with a computer, Rundell brought along his guitar and played acoustic versions of two of the songs from the new album, including the single "Not This Time," which unfolds with startling poignancy when stripped back to its roots. Aside from their knack for conjuring dancefloor magic, The 2 Bears are simply great songwriters, as this session reveals.

[recorded: 11/20/14]