Arguably one of the most uplifting dance albums in recent years was released today by duo du jour, The 2 Bears. After a busy 2011 which saw the boys (Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard of Greco-Roman/Hot Chip notoriety) smashing festivals such as Glasto and Creamfields and trail-blazing far corners of the earth like Australia and Brazil, they’ve finally found time to add the finishing touches to what is a cracking debut album.

Be Strong is a collection of positive, infectious and bloomin’ cheeky tracks that celebrate what’s “nice and decent” about dance music. Stream the album in full below and once (yep, ‘once’ not ‘if’) you’re feeling the love, head over to iTunes or Amazon to grab your copy. Oh, and as if that’s not enough the Bears are also giving away an atmospheric remix of recent smash, ‘Work’, mixed down by St Etienne. Click through to the second Soundcloud link for your free download.

Image by Tom Horton (www.tom-horton.co.uk)