And Also the Trees

Established in 1979 in a small village in Worcestershire & inspired by the ideology of a still-developing post-punk movement, AATT from their very beginnings were different. Unlike more urban contemporaries like PIL & Gang Of Four, AATT were influenced almost exclusively by the landscape & history of the rural environment that surrounded them, an influence that has remained throughout their entire existence to this day.

Their first, self-titled album, released in 1983 reflected those early, tentative post-punk roots, but it was with 1986's seminal Virus Meadow - an album of rich, pagan melancholy & disturbing laments - & the resulting European tours, that AATT truly found their own identity & seemingly an audience that were enraptured by the dramatic, understood the poetic nature of their work & The dense, chiming guitars & relentless rhythmic spirals perfectly complementing the rich, nursery rhyme-like lyrics of Simon Huw Jones & the almost pre-Raphaelite artwork.

Subsequent albums The Millpond Years (1987), Farewell To The Shade (1989)& Green Is The Sea (1991) continued in this rich, creative, & influential vein & seemingly elevated AATT to an almost mythical status in parts of Europe where they regularly played to audiences in their thousands & introduced them to transatlantic audiences for the first time via a highly successful US tour.

The release of 1993's The Klaxon, however, saw the beginning of a new chapter in the life of AATT, the esoteric, rural influences replaced by a 50's beat-group feel, still challenging & lyrical but somehow more urbane. The twanging guitars, Morricone trumpets & growling organs punctuating a trilogy of releases (now endearingly referred to as the 'hard boiled' trilogy) including Angelfish (1996) & Silver Soul (1998).

From '98 to 2003 however saw AATT almost wilfully fade from view. No live shows or new releases gave rise to rumours of a split but in truth the band were biding their time, waiting for their muse to return with something akin to a more honest & contemporary styling. Further From The Truth, their 2003 album, is a testimony to the timeless quality of And Also The Trees & their music.

'(Listen for) The Rag and Bone Man' the 2007 album takes us on a dreamlike journey through dark landscapes populated by stray nursery rhyme characters, mysterious women who peer into the psyche and pools of light that appear like reflections of their pastoral upbringing... touched by the likes of Scott Walker, Tom Waits, Calexico and Arthur Lee's 'Love'.

It was recorded on the estate of an 11th century manor house in rural Herefordshire and finished in a Victorian chapel in the East End of London - settings that exemplify the vividly spectral quality of this album.

A policy of using 'real' instruments, including a double bass, zither and piano has resulted in a rich, organic sound, coloured further by a guitar that brings to mind the trademark sound of their formative years.