Taken By Trees - East Of Eden

Dangerous recording. Death defying production. The Concretes’ Victoria Bergsman is a bit of a daredevil, it would seem. Clearly unsatisfied with the conditions offered for young musicians to work in, she looked for more. And her search took her all the way to Pakistan, an often female unfriendly (especially as a single woman) environment. She didn’t even choose to stay in a city, but went all out and found her place in the hills. And it’s understandable, on looking at the sleeve photographs, why this place could be chosen. Awe-inspiring views, no social network distractions and no sound, apart from everything she wanted. Everything she went looking for.

‘East Of Eden’ is a special record. On listening to it, it becomes clear why Bergsman had this vision and why she felt so strongly the need to follow through with it. The use of traditional Pakistani music, melded with Bergsman’s distinctive and distracting voice, sends one into an almost instant lull. Opening track, ‘To Lose Someone’, suggests a sort of loneliness, perhaps belonging to Bergman, but all the while instigating a sense, a desire for escapism in the listener. The whole record follows on perfectly from these initial feelings, keeping with the lightness and subtlety of the percussion and vox. A modern day cover even appears, reminding us that the source of the idea came not so far away from home. Animal Collective’s ‘My Girls’, taken from their most recent album ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion’, is given the Taken By Trees treatment. Changing the track’s title and adopting it, ‘My Boys’ becomes something quite different. It remains, however, the most western song on the album; more pop friendly than any of the others.

With ‘East Of Eden’, Bergman has really brought a piece of herself to the table; she overcame risks, and nay-sayers, in order to make her vision a possibility. A reality, maybe, but who knows if it all went how she’d initially imagined it? She has created a beautiful album, but the problem lies in what it means. Is she trying to distance herself from her past musical outings, is this a one off? On listening, one can’t help but feel like it was a mere challenge, conquered, and never to be revisited…