The Dreaming Tree is a 5 piece band comprising Chris
Buckler (vocals), Dan Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Neil Simpson (bass), Neil
Ablard (drums) and Steven Barrett (keyboards).
Silverfade is
a 14 track album with a total playing time of around 66 minutes. The longest
track on offer is track 4, “Forever Not Forever” running on for 8:05 minutes,
with track 8, “Jaded Summer Long,” the shortest on the album at under 2 minutes
(1:39) in length.
The opening track on the album, Silverfade, “Yesterday’s Tomorrow” (3:41) starts with a solo piano
then quickly bursts into chunky guitar chords with some excellent bass and
drums the foundations of the track. The vocals are clear and light and it is a
track that bursts into life, but all too soon has gone and doesn’t seem to have
had enough time to leave a melody in your head. There is an interesting use of
the trumpet soloing and taking the track out.
Jumping beat and an interesting synthesizer in the
background, heralds the entry of “Heart Shaped Bruises” (5:24) but at times it
seems to careen along, almost out of control. The musicians seem intent on
trying to get a 5+ minute song to finish in less than 3 minutes. The highlight
of this track is the superb guitar work after the halfway point.
“Yours To Find” (3:23) has some nice organ swathes but
the chunky guitar style seems to be already overshadowing everything else. Next
up is the longest track on Silverfade,
“Forever Not Forever” (8:05) although the band sings “Forever’s Not Forever.”
This has a very atmospheric introduction with a softish guitar melody, tinkling
bells and a great bass and I was really looking forward to this track evolving
into a different entity to the previous tracks. Just around the 1 minute mark,
when the chunky guitars enter the scene, my interest faded a little. One thing
I will say about this track is that it oozed potential, but the vocals appeared
to be weak at times and there seemed to be too much veering this way and that within
the instrumentation. A little “pruning” could have made this track deserve the
term “stunning.”
Taking the next 4 tracks in quick succession, “Cherry
Winters” (4:42) is a harmonious and jazzy track, followed by “Autumn Haze”
(5:20) which is more guitar/ organ driven and then “Higgs” (3:52) and “Jaded
Summer Long” (1:39) both lean heavily on the chunky driving guitar.
The next track, “Every Minute Lost” (4:25) stands out due
to its slower tempo, clear vocals and more laid back sound, but ultimately loses
out to an unnecessary blast of guitar pyrotechnics as it exits. “Loose It Off”
(3:39) has great vocals and harmonies, and is another example of the slower
style, but then changes tack with a guitar led passage and a strained spoken
vocal, which didn’t seem to fit well before a return to the original passage.
“Song in 7” (5:11), “The Ocean” (3:16) and “Kosovo”
(5:45) are in turn, driving rock, which works after the slower tracks, a very
slow melodic track and then a track (“Kosovo”) that tries to merge the slow
melodic style with the driving guitar, which was less successful.
The final track on the album, “Zero To Type One” (7:39)
is an out and out guitar driven rock track, but somehow doesn’t quite gel.
During the review of this album, I have had bouts where
the music genuinely started to excite me, but there were just as many points
which left a real feeling of disappointment. It is almost as if the band have
tried too hard to please everyone who listens to the album, with the result
that, across the 14 tracks, the music just seems to be spread too thin.
I have been known, when reviewing a double album, to make
the comment that there is a stunning single album hiding in all the tracks.
With Silverfade, I feel that if the
band had been perhaps a little more focused on what they wanted to do, possibly
reducing the overall track number, and even trimming the length of individual
tracks, this would have been a much more successful release.
This, of course, is a very personal view and as always, I
urge people to check out all albums for themselves. On Silverfade, I detected huge chunks of potential, marred at times by
less focused areas.
3.5/5
Stars
Key
Tracks: Forever Not Forever, Cherry Winters, The Ocean
Tracks:
Yesterdays’ Tomorrow
Heart Shaped Bruises
Yours To Find
Forever Not Forever
Cherry Winters
Autumn Haze
Higgs
Jaded Summer Long
Every Minute Lost
Loose It Off
Song in 7
The Ocean
Kosovo
Zero To Type One
Tracks:
Yesterdays’ Tomorrow
Heart Shaped Bruises
Yours To Find
Forever Not Forever
Cherry Winters
Autumn Haze
Higgs
Jaded Summer Long
Every Minute Lost
Loose It Off
Song in 7
The Ocean
Kosovo
Zero To Type One
August 17, 2015
Review
Provided By Write A Music Review