Music blogger’s pigeon holes are stuffed full of bands from which they can pluck references and comparisons when looking to describe a new artist. Trying to explain how a band sound by slotting them into the appropriate gap on the shelf is something you get pretty good at over the years. The Recommender’s shelving units are full to the brim, but there’s always room to crowbar in someone new. And so we turn to Treefight For Sunlight, a new four piece band from Denmark, who appear from the Bella Union label and we look to see which hole this fresh pigeon is aiming for.
If you check through some of the artists that this independent record label has released work for, it reads like a book of shoegazing, dreamy, psyche pop, so the chances are you can acuminate your search of the correct pigeon hole pretty quickly. The Walkmen, Abe Vigoda and Beach House have all appeared with Bella Union, so Treefight For Sunlight are not likely to be peddling much in the way of dubstep or thrash metal now are they.
Then you need look no further than that excellent band name. It already designs thoughts in your mind of woodlands and all things cosmic, so we’re guessing there’s going to be plenty of echoing vocals, mixed in with psychedelic bits here and there, right? It’s a little depressing to finally hit play, only to hear precisely what you were predicting, however, this new Danish export do it all delightfully well.
Listen to a track such as the elevating ‘Facing The Sun‘ and you are met with the sunnier side of Johnny Marr‘s guitars being channelled through an echoing chamber. Then the combined vocals, from all four band members (!), arrive like a mix of Mercury Rev and a 1970s children’s TV theme tune, much in the way The Polyphonic Spree used to do so well. All are high pitched and draped over the music like gossamer, whilst the strings of the guitars twinkle as if they’re plucking dewy cobwebs to create their sound.
If you like your pop to be smart, uplifting, dreamy, lightweight and sunny, then you can look out for their self-titled debut album from February 14th. Between now and then, they arrive in the UK for four dates in London from Thursday of this week (20th January) and for one date in Brighton on Wednesday 26th supporting The Walkmen. (MB)
TREEFIGHT FOR SUNLIGHT – FACING THE SUN
TREEFIGHT FOR SUNLIGHT – WHAT BECAME OF YOU AND I
