Bee Sides

RELEASE DATE: May 20

Bee Sides is Peter’s fourth release on Rattle, following Oro (2021, featuring Horomona Horo on taonga puoro), Luminescence and Tomo (both in 2023), albums that explore synthesis and the natural world in texturally engaging compositions that offer immersive listening experiences. He has a deep interest in environmental sound art, not purely from a creative and artistic perspective, but as a way to express his political and environmental concerns.

May 20th is designated World Bee Day by the United Nations. To honour our crucial and beloved bees, these compositions were created entirely from field recordings of bees and their environments in the Waitakere Ranges forest.

This album is a meditative conversation between the sounds of nature and organised music. It takes the listener on an imaginary journey of a day in the life of bees, from the dawn hive into the fields, through the Rewarewa forests, following the river to the Manuka trees by the sea, and back to the hive at dusk.

This music seeks to express our connection to the natural world, to encourage consideration of the similarities between the bees' world and ours, and to emphasise that their health and wellbeing are intimately connected to our own survival.

Enjoy this ambient album (we hope it leaves you humming), and please do what you can to protect and nourish your local environment. 

Produced, recorded, composed and engineered by Peter Hobbs
Design by UnkleFranc
Printing by Studio Q

All compositions by Peter Hobbs © 2026 All Rights Reserved