Taken By Trees

East Of Eden

Image of Taken By Trees - East Of Eden
Record Label
Rough Trade

About this item

Victoria Bergsman wanted to travel to record in a mysterious, relatively uncharted area, avoiding the usual clinical studio experience which she has always disliked and found to be an uncreative environment. She chose Pakistan. The rhythm, drums and flutes of Pakistani music had long captivated Victoria and this, coupled with a deep admiration for singers Abida Parveen and the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, helped her choose Pakistan as the place to record her new album. Another attractive factor was her interest in Sufi musicians who play in order to enter a trance like state, using music to transport themselves to another time and place. Victoria is one of very few Western women, if not the only one, to record in this region, and the bureaucracy, cultural differences and prejudices she had to overcome to see this project through almost beggar belief. It's therefore little short of a miracle that this album turned out the way it did. Victoria, previously best known for her work with The Concretes and Peter Bjorn & John's worldwide smash hit single "Young Folks", now works under the nom de plume Taken By Trees. This new offering follows in the footsteps of Taken By Tree's debut album "Open Field" (2007). The album also includes a cover of Animal Collective's "My Girls", which Victoria has re-interpreted as "My Boys". She has been a long standing fan of band member Noah Lennox' voice and upon hearing their new album "Merriweather Post Pavilion" was so struck by the song she felt compelled to record a version for her album. Consequently, Noah was also invited to sing vocals on another track on the album, "Anna".

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