Taken By Trees
“Dreams”
Other Worlds (Secretly Canadian)
If there was only one word I could use to describe Swedish vocalist Victoria Bergsman’s music, it would be alive. Since she burst on the scene with her first band the Concretes, she always looked destined for greatness, and her subsequent project, Taken By Trees, has confirmed her early promise. On the back of two beautiful, lush LPs — 2007’s Open Field and 2009’s essential East of Eden — comes her third release under the TBT moniker, which from preliminary listens looks set to be her best yet. Its first single contains all the hallmarks of what made me fall in love in the first place: her gentle yet alluring coo, celestial swaths of guitar and synth, and its overall feels-like-laying-in-a-breezy-field-of-long-grass-on-a-gorgeous-fucking-day-ness, which is the most important bit. Honestly, I really feel like this is is the kind of music you have to be kind of a dick to not like. If it doesn’t bowl you over, that’s fine. But anybody who doesn’t enjoy music this aesthetically pleasing and soothing should seek help. It’s like not liking golden retriever puppies, afternoon sun, or over-the-pants handjobs. (ED NOTE: That’s the kind of objective, hard-hitting criticism that TP has come to stand for in its long, illustrious history. If Scott Templeton can win a Pulitzer, so can TP. Journalism!)
