EP Review: Visions Of Trees - Sometimes It Kills EP
- Written by Stef Siepel
Oh my goodness, stop the noise! That was my mind cringing at the opening notes of the Visions of Trees' EP Sometimes It Kills. The opening tune is the title track, and starts with some distortion, which can be heard throughout the entire first song, though as the song progresses in a milder fashion. Don't be fooled however, the distortion will soon make way, and the other three tracks are free from such imposing sounds. From a personal point of view I can only be grateful for that.
The Sometimes It Kills EP consists of four tracks. The title track is the opener, and as mentioned, somehow finds a way to start with a bucketful of distortion. But that is not the main ingredient in the band's sound. Taken together it seems to me that the EP aims more for the mystical mixed with the eclectic. To me it sounds most like Fever Ray's nature embracing sister. Which perhaps one could've figured out by the titles of the other three songs: 'Cult of Cobras', 'Waves, They Crash', and 'Solid Rainbows' (although admittedly the first one might not be an icon of nature in the way "waves" and "rainbows" are). They mix quite a lot of sounds, but bar the first track it is done in a sort of mystic way. The friendly female vocals add peace to the whole endeavor, and whereas the instruments sometimes like to spawn all kinds of different sounds, the voice is always there to be a soothing factor. One could even say that more emphasis is put on the vocals rather than the lyrics.
On 'Cult of Cobras' for example it are vocal acrobatics more so than someone singing lyrics (at least, I personally couldn't make them out). The band forms an interesting sound pallet with all kinds of interesting noises and instruments, some of which I hesitate to label as such because it seems like things were used outside of what one would traditionally call "instruments". Drums are used, however, and in stretches they feature prominently. On 'Waves They Crash' the voice is perhaps even more angelic than in the two previous songs; frail over a lovely paced and build-up track. Unlike on their first song, Visions of Trees does not go overboard with sounds and noises, but the band paces itself and it takes the form of a sort of soft, breezy ocean wind. It is very nice to listen and relax to, pretty good for in the train at night after a hard day of whatever. The same goes for closing track 'Solid Rainbows', which again finds the right sounds to evoke a certain atmosphere, though this time the echoing drum makes it a bit more insistent and more akin to the second song, though the vocals and the singing about rainbows is more reminiscent of the third track.
This EP revolves around the mixing and matching of all kinds of sounds to create a certain naturalistic atmosphere. On track one I think the noise is a bit too demanding and I'm not sure there the mixing and matching really works, but on the other three tracks the band creates lovely songs which might just transport you to a different place whilst you're riding the train/tube/bus/whatever at night and can finally dream away a little. At their best moments it is lovely escapist music, something I'm always in favor of.