And Also The Trees – A Room Lives In Lucy & The Secret Sea 12”Singles

Annnnd welcome back all one or two of you who stop by and read this trivial nonsense. I've taken a couple of weeks away from the keyboard, which probably explains why I haven’t replied to any of your messages. During that time you’ve had a terrific amount of top draw music delivered to you for sampling, before you decide to purchase (or not) from the original authors. I’m back in the driving seat again and making snap decisions on the fly as I type this crap. My original thought was to post a retrospective of ‘And Also The Trees’ covering their early years and first two albums. That idea didn’t pan out as I realised that I have already posted the first two albums by ‘And Also The Trees’. So in a flash I decided to post two 12”EP’s instead.
The two singles, The Secret Sea (1984) and A Room Lives In Lucy (1985) are effectively stand-alone releases which any real fan of the band should have for their collection. If you’re not so familiar with ‘And Also The Trees’ I will be dropping a link below to their previous albums where you can read some notes and try to figure out why you haven’t heard of them before now. It’s also OK if you kinda know of the band but haven’t really heard much by them as the two singles are like an open window with a cooling apple pie just waiting for you to steal. So, com’on and get some lovin’ tonight.

 

Virus Meadow

For their second full album, the Trees developed an even more arty approach than before, establishing what would become their basic sound for a number of years to come. Stripping down the instrumentation on most of the songs to a dark rhythm drive from Burrows and Havas, Justin Jones here concentrates on a series of electric guitar parts which combine the liquid touches of flange effects and folky runs on the frets, avoiding crunch in favour of delicacy, to create marvellously evocative musical shadings, rich in atmosphere. Along with Simon Jones' sometimes extravagant lyrical images of an older, more rustic and mystic time, with hints of Wordsworth's early Romantic poetry throughout - "The Headless Clay Woman" and "The Dwelling Place" give a hint as the at once nostalgic and dramatic direction - it gives Meadow a unique flavour for Eighties British rock. While some of the Trees' aesthetic may spring from the same creative well as a number of moodier British folk-based artists from earlier days - some of Nick Drake's more metaphoric numbers sprung to mind - the goth-tinged feel of the music makes Meadow all the more distinct. One could easily imagine it sound tracking an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, if not something even older. Some numbers, like "Vincent Craine," have a more conventional rock approach, but this is counterbalanced by the album's highlight, "Gone...Like the Swallows," a richly textured, powerful song featuring all the band members at their best.

And Also The Trees

"So This Is Silence" kicks off the Trees' debut with a semi-tribal drum rhythm sounding not unlike something from the Cure's Pornography, albeit lighter; given that Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst produced the record, such a connection makes perfect sense. However, the Trees weren't, and have never been, mere clones of the Cure despite Tolhurst's help and Robert Smith's long-term patronage, though at this stage of their careers the band's collective influences certainly hung heavy. Flecks of all the early British post-punk/proto-goth big names crop up throughout, from Justin Jones' chiming, intricate guitar lines a la the Chameleons or the Comsat Angels to Simon Jones' Ian McCullochesque sense of vocal projection (unsurprising given how both singers took inspiration from Jim Morrison; the Doors' general sense of art-rock theatre informs much of the album's general vibe, if not specifically the sound). While lacking in immediately catchy songs -- partially due to the fact that at this point the band generally favoured series of verses or poetry without rhyme to more conventional lyric structures -- the album still kicks up some smoke, as with the quite atmospheric "Midnight Garden" and the first gentle, then brawling "The Tease the Tear." "Shrine" is especially noteworthy, given its intricate guitar work mixed with somewhat flanged effects, which soon would become a key element to the Trees' sound. Add to that some nicely melancholy cover art of a fog-shrouded forest and the generally rural setting of the lyrics, and a distinctly 'old' English flavour becomes clear, which would also help further set the Trees apart from other similar bands in later years.