Lost in the Trees – Time Taunts Me
There aren’t an awful lot of bands that manage to successfully combine classical stuff with pop to produce anything all that coherent. In fact I can really only think of one or two, and none of them are all that big – yet.
There’s The Divine Comedy‘s early stuff of course. The Young Republic are possibly the most successful of the current crop, if you ask me, and Ellie Come Home have some decent moments as well. Now there’s another group ploughing that particular furrow, and rather effectively too I’d say. In fact, Lost in the Trees are possibly closer to actual classical music than either of the two aforementioned bands, although this is still pretty definitely a pop record.
Actually, to digress slightly, I am fairly sure that both The Young Republic and Lost in the Trees were formed by musicians studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. I think it’s quite a prestigious school, and is clearly doing some fine work for the indie-pop world at the moment, although whether or not that was the intention of the school’s founders is open to some doubt, I should imagine.
As to the music, well it’s as evocative and cinematic as you might imagine. Fortunately the temptation to excessively pompous intricacy or pretentious bombast is never evident. In fact, it’s odd; this doesn’t sound like a classically influenced album most of the time, in fact in pace and pitch it can be a lot like Turin Brakes, of all groups. It’s only when you sit down and listen that you realise that the instruments creating the perfect pop songs you’re listening to are not the standard indie-pop setup at all.
It produces a much richer atmosphere this way, and can be quite bewitching if you relax into it – despite the rather jarring Church Organ from Hades on the wonderfully sinister I’ve Always Loved the Fall. In a sense these guys are also quite similar to Toad favourites Paris Motel when they are in this particular vein. But that’s enough comparisons. Have a listen below and then follow any of the links provided and buy the record. It’s bloody good value for money actually, in that it’s titled and priced as an EP, but has the complete feel of an entire album.
Lost in the Trees – Tall Trees
Lost in the Trees – I’ve Always Loved the Fall
Lost in the Trees – Walk Around the Lake Unreleased from Esopus Magazine compilation.
I absolutely LOVED The Divine Comedy’s Promenade – my brother had bought me Liberation a couple of years earlier to do my A-levels to – and Promenade was one of my first batch of CDs. My version has got a 4-track bonus CD on and I remember a lot of cello action. I’ll dig it out and post some up.
Nice post – thank you.
Liberation and Promenade are brilliant albums. They’re just that little more light-hearted than his later output, which has become a little stodgy, I tend to find.
Although full marks for Sweden, eh?
There are some brilliant things in his later stuff, including Sweden, but the overall albums seem to have lost that lightness of touch of the first two, that’s all.
Great selection from Ellie Come Home (much better than another one I heard earlier). Your commentary in general is enlightening and well stated – thanks for digging up these wonderful discoveries throughout your site. Really a pleasure.
I say indeed. Thank you very much.