Winter Tree, The - The Winter Tree

Year of Release: 2011
Label: self-released
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 40:20:00

As storms lashed the eastern seaboard and heat baked the west, it seemed a good time to listen to again the cool refreshing sounds of The Winter Tree. The Winter Tree were previously known as Magus and under that moniker released several albums, culminating with 2005's Lucid Dreamer (itself a compilation of tracks, from previous Magus releases plus 2 live tracks). The name has changed, but the band remains Andrew Laitres (aka Robinson; vocals, guitar, bass, keys, percussion and programming) and Deb Bond (aka Deb Moore; keyboards), with the addition of Mark Bond (aka Deb's husband; vocals, all harmony vocals, electric guitars)...

If the tracks on Lucid Dreamer channeled Genesis and Yes, with a hint of Tangerine Dream... then The Winter Tree channels Tangerine Dream with a hint of Genesis, though that hint of Genesis is truly more a hint of Peter Gabriel, as there is a subtle ethnic quality that recalls Gabriel latter-day post-Genesis works, It's also a very literary work, as we'll see.

Well, no. I have to be honest and say some of the tracks follow that path. The other part charts quite a different course (the CD opens with the lovely keyboard wash/atmospheres of "Voices From A Lost Age," which sets the stage for the poem-based pieces to come).

On the one hand, there are pieces on The Winter Tree that are like something out of the Mind's Eye series of computer animation clips -- for example, the rhythmic, marching, "middle-eastern" flavored, yet atmospheric "Babylon" -- a poem by 19th/20th Century English poet Ralph Hodgson that Laitres adapted to music (and where the Gabriel-esque feel comes in; think "Games Without Frontiers"). Like the sands it evokes, there's a certain dryness to the piece (the brush of drums, the hazy vocals)... you can almost see the caravan, see the shuffle of feet on a dusty road. So, too, we have the "The Other," a throbbing, keyboard driven instrumental. The keys are bright, chirpy and upbeat. It just so calls out for computer animation of some sort, although you can do the same in your head with your eyes closed. It percolates, pulsates. It closes out with a very analog piano -- although it may not be a real piano, but a keyboard setting, it does give a bit of "reality" (pastoral) to the "unreal" (urban) atmosphere -- it's a contrast we see in various pieces on the album.

Or there's the dark churning atmospheres of "The Adventures Of Prince Caspian" (yes, the Caspian of Narnia), though here some "proggy" touches are added with parpy trumpeting organ.

Not to keep on the "sounds like" theme, but I was struck, too, by how much "In May" made me think just a bit of Fish's "Lady Let It Lie" in its almost lullaby-like lilt. This is another track that takes a poem, this one by William Henry Davies (a 20th Century Welsh poet), and sets it to music. It is a pastoral, one of those that, with a few phrases, draws contrast to the crowded feel of "downtown" (that is, the town's center) and the openness of the out-of-doors. (In that, I'm brought to mind of Moon Safari's first two releases...). Musically it's lyrical, organ playing the role that a flute might. It sets us up, chronologically, with what's to come, as you can't help but think of the 70s, right?

On the other hand, there are pieces that recall 70s classic rock, such as in the toe-tapper "Now That You've Flown," which sounds like a mix of Jimmy Buffet ("Changes In Latitudes"), Dan Fogelberg ("Part Of The Plan"), and America (nothing specific). It's easy and laidback acoustic-based rock (and I suppose the voices of 70s rock are voices of a lost age, but I really don't think it's what Laitres meant...?). There is a brief electric guitar solo at one point (about 10 seconds 3 minutes in), and to close out the track (just before the 4 minute mark), an organ solo, which lasts longer than the guitar solo (about 37 seconds to fade out). "A Twilight In Middle March" follows, with words by 19th Century poet Francis Ledwidge. It continues in this same mood, a bit more mellow than "Now That...", and had me thinking briefly of Chicago's "Wishing You Were Here" in the somewhat dreamy, hazy delivery of the vocals, but mostly in the deeper, throatier aspects therein in transitioning from verse to verse. It's more proggy than that might imply, if not in arrangement, certainly in overall feel (the ocean sounds that come right after, which begin "The Other," also remind of that Chicago track). It's quite short at a little over 3 minutes. "Stranger," too, gets into the 70s soft-rock mode most heavily, a bit of the jazzy territory of Boz Scaggs, though I thought more of Dave Mason. It's a lovely track, full of warmth and emotion. The chorus is one of those that will stick with you. But...

But... well, I'll get to that "but" in a moment. I want to add first that: in the middle is "Guardian Angel," which has the same type of marching rhythm that "Babylon" has (and "Guardian Angel" follows "Babylon" in sequence), but has a more rock aspect. It's not 70s, but feels more 90s. And actually, I thought of Pendragon. It's the most progressive rock of the album's pieces, when you use that term as a category, a genre, rather than a statement about execution. That is, it fits a niche, it's not pushing the boundaries. It's very nice, mellow like the 70s styled stuff, but also atmospheric like the more electronic pieces. And like Babylon, it's dry, but this time only in the vocals (as there are some glistening keyboard effects that are quite watery).

So... that "but." Don't get me wrong, I love 70s soft rock; I grew up listening to Bread, America, Firefall, and so forth. And the 70s inspired pieces here are quite nice. But... the electronic pieces are more appealing. They're edgier, even as they aren't necessarily edgy. There's a sense of mystery, certainly in "The Adventures..." which brings a bit of ELP (yeh, the organ). It's quite strident, brassy... "go forth and conquer" it suggests. Well, there is evil in Narnia that needs to be conquered, right?

The album does flow together well, and one doesn't want an album where all 10 tracks are the same, so we don't get there, for sure. So having the contrast is good. I'm sure the 70s stuff was trying to tap into the pastoral aspect of the album, but they were too "rock" to truly accomplish that ("In May" fits that bill). But the "urban" side of the coin is executed quite nicely. All that aside,... because I want to emphasize there's not a bad track here at all, it's a really good album and I recommend it. But if you're looking for the substance, the meat and potatoes, of the album, it's those "urban" tracks.

The artwork, by the way, which I think is fabulous, is by Minna Sundberg.

listen to samples

Tangents - I'm famous for 'em, right? W.H. Davies wrote a work published in 1908 called The Autobiography Of A Super-Tramp. Super-Tramp. Davies. Hmm... I don't know if this already common knowledge (as there's nothing at Supertramp's website, nor uh... at Wikipedia...), but it struck me that one of the founding members of Supertramp is Rick Davies - W.H. had no children... but I suppose there could be a relation... or not, and Davies, familiar with the work, liked the name and the Davies part is coincidence....


Tracklisting:
Voices from A Lost Age (1:53) / Babylon (4:38) / Guardian Angel (4:36) / Fading Shadows (0:41) / In May (3:34) / Now That You've Flown (4:41) / A Twilight In Middle March (3:22) / The Other (3:42) / The Three Hills (2:26) / Stranger (3:48) / The Adventures Of Prince Caspian (6:53): i. Under A Narnian Sea - ii. To The End Of The World - iii. Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Musicians:
Deb Bond - keyboards
Mark Bond - lead vocals, all harmony vocals, electric guitars
Andrew Laitres - lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, programming

Discography:
Magus - Magus (1995)
Magus - Traveller (1997)
Magus - Highway 375 (EP) (1998)
Magus - Echoes From The Edge Of The Millennium: 1987-1999 (1999)
Magus - The Green Earth (2001)
Magus - The Garden (2002)
Magus - Lucid Dreamer (2005)
The Winter Tree (2011)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: September 13th 2011
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.thewintertreeband.com
Hits: 4292
Language: english