By
Kevin McGrath
Submitted On February 06, 2016
Hebron, the debut album from Pontypridd based folk/pop combo
Climbing Trees, has been released to wide acclaim in Wales, with the
band benefiting greatly from the imaginative support of BBC Radio Wales
over the past 12 months. Sadly, its reception elsewhere in the UK has
been more muted. In fact, Hebron seems to have slipped under the radar
altogether, which is a crying shame given the album's unmistakeable
promise.
Formed in the summer of 2011, after playing alongside each other at regular jam sessions in Ponty's Llanover Arms, the band admit to "churning out indie music", before organically changing direction. Their self-coined brand of folk/pop, 'Cymrucana' is a joyous fusion of "Cool Cymru", as pioneered by the Super Furry Animals and Catatonia in the mid 90's, and the stripped down Americana of legendary artists like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Resolutely democratic in their approach, the band insists that they have no lead vocalist. Indeed the three surviving members, from the line-up that recorded Hebron, Martin Webb, Matthew Frederick and Colenso Jones (surely one the coolest names in the history of Welsh popular music), all take a turn in the spotlight. This comradely division of labour extends to the song writing too. Whatever the internal dynamics of the group, it seems everyone was pulling in the right direction during the making of the wonderful Hebron.
It may be the oldest trick in the book, but Hebron opens with the bands strongest song, "Aloisi", a tenderly crafted vignette which shamelessly wears its heart on its sleeve, and has a serious claim to contain the most romantic couplet in the history of pop music,
"Sunlight streams into my eyes
it always brings me to,
I didn't mean to wake you darling
but I can't keep my eyes off you"
The song itself echoes the literate pop of Cherry Ghost, and Webb does, at times, sound uncannily like Simon Aldred, which to my mind is a definite plus. Indeed, "Aloisi" is able to stand comparison with Cherry Ghost's very best songs, "4am" and "People, Help The People" and it's winning format is repeated to excellent effect on "Under The Lindens".
"Burning Candle", with its sweeping gospel harmonies placed squarely front and centre, from the song's outset, is somewhat atypical of the album as a whole, even ending in a bit of a semi-acoustic wig out. It secured a place in Wales Online's poll 'The 51 greatest Welsh pop songs of 2013', testimony indeed to its forthright, radio-friendly, melody.
"Burning Candles" stylistic companion piece, "River Home", is also the emotional centrepiece of the album. The twin themes of exile and homecoming that permeate the album are fully realised on this pared down folk song, as well as being strongly to the fore on the equally plaintive, "Gone To Sea"
"Gather on the shore
depart without remorse
Gone to find abroad
What can't be found at home"
The second half of the album isn't quite as strong as the first, being a little top heavy with instrumentals, although all three, the title track, "Ahab" and "Nos" (Welsh for night or dark), the piano ballad that closes out Hebron, do add substance, texture and colour to the finished product.
Having recorded the album at the secluded Mwnci Studios, in the wilds of Carmarthenshire, one might have imagined a more rugged, rough edged set of folk songs to have emerged from the raw material the band had to work with, more in keeping perhaps with the austere landscape that surrounded them. In fact the opposite is true, with producer Jethro Chaplin, who became an honorary "tree" by playing tambourine on "Setting Sun", fashioning a warm-hearted, inclusive album that gladdens the soul. Art for the hearts sake, perhaps?
Climbing Trees are not claiming to have re-invented the wheel. For now, the boys are happy to follow in the footsteps of others, though not too many troubadours have travelled down the long and lonesome road, from The Llanover Arms to Laurel Canyon. They've made a decent start though; recording a debut album can be fraught with danger, bands are often understandably tempted to throw the kitchen sink at it, fearing they may never get a second chance. The band should be applauded for the nuanced and understated approach they took to making Hebron. There is a unity of purpose, theme and tone achieved on this genteel record which should signpost the way forward for Climbing Trees, as they continue their journey of self-discovery.
Climbing Trees brand of folk-rock, alt. country and literate pop makes them one of the most intriguing band's to come out of Wales for many years. With three prolific songwriters on board, there's every hope 2016's sophomore album will reach a much wider audience. It will be no more than they deserve.
Formed in the summer of 2011, after playing alongside each other at regular jam sessions in Ponty's Llanover Arms, the band admit to "churning out indie music", before organically changing direction. Their self-coined brand of folk/pop, 'Cymrucana' is a joyous fusion of "Cool Cymru", as pioneered by the Super Furry Animals and Catatonia in the mid 90's, and the stripped down Americana of legendary artists like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Resolutely democratic in their approach, the band insists that they have no lead vocalist. Indeed the three surviving members, from the line-up that recorded Hebron, Martin Webb, Matthew Frederick and Colenso Jones (surely one the coolest names in the history of Welsh popular music), all take a turn in the spotlight. This comradely division of labour extends to the song writing too. Whatever the internal dynamics of the group, it seems everyone was pulling in the right direction during the making of the wonderful Hebron.
It may be the oldest trick in the book, but Hebron opens with the bands strongest song, "Aloisi", a tenderly crafted vignette which shamelessly wears its heart on its sleeve, and has a serious claim to contain the most romantic couplet in the history of pop music,
"Sunlight streams into my eyes
it always brings me to,
I didn't mean to wake you darling
but I can't keep my eyes off you"
The song itself echoes the literate pop of Cherry Ghost, and Webb does, at times, sound uncannily like Simon Aldred, which to my mind is a definite plus. Indeed, "Aloisi" is able to stand comparison with Cherry Ghost's very best songs, "4am" and "People, Help The People" and it's winning format is repeated to excellent effect on "Under The Lindens".
"Burning Candle", with its sweeping gospel harmonies placed squarely front and centre, from the song's outset, is somewhat atypical of the album as a whole, even ending in a bit of a semi-acoustic wig out. It secured a place in Wales Online's poll 'The 51 greatest Welsh pop songs of 2013', testimony indeed to its forthright, radio-friendly, melody.
"Burning Candles" stylistic companion piece, "River Home", is also the emotional centrepiece of the album. The twin themes of exile and homecoming that permeate the album are fully realised on this pared down folk song, as well as being strongly to the fore on the equally plaintive, "Gone To Sea"
"Gather on the shore
depart without remorse
Gone to find abroad
What can't be found at home"
The second half of the album isn't quite as strong as the first, being a little top heavy with instrumentals, although all three, the title track, "Ahab" and "Nos" (Welsh for night or dark), the piano ballad that closes out Hebron, do add substance, texture and colour to the finished product.
Having recorded the album at the secluded Mwnci Studios, in the wilds of Carmarthenshire, one might have imagined a more rugged, rough edged set of folk songs to have emerged from the raw material the band had to work with, more in keeping perhaps with the austere landscape that surrounded them. In fact the opposite is true, with producer Jethro Chaplin, who became an honorary "tree" by playing tambourine on "Setting Sun", fashioning a warm-hearted, inclusive album that gladdens the soul. Art for the hearts sake, perhaps?
Climbing Trees are not claiming to have re-invented the wheel. For now, the boys are happy to follow in the footsteps of others, though not too many troubadours have travelled down the long and lonesome road, from The Llanover Arms to Laurel Canyon. They've made a decent start though; recording a debut album can be fraught with danger, bands are often understandably tempted to throw the kitchen sink at it, fearing they may never get a second chance. The band should be applauded for the nuanced and understated approach they took to making Hebron. There is a unity of purpose, theme and tone achieved on this genteel record which should signpost the way forward for Climbing Trees, as they continue their journey of self-discovery.
Climbing Trees brand of folk-rock, alt. country and literate pop makes them one of the most intriguing band's to come out of Wales for many years. With three prolific songwriters on board, there's every hope 2016's sophomore album will reach a much wider audience. It will be no more than they deserve.
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