And Also the Trees are an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, formed in 1979 in

Inkberrow Inkberrow is a village in Worcestershire, England, often thought to be the model for Ambridge, the setting of BBC Radio 4's long-running series ''The Archers''. In particular, The Bull, the fictional Ambridge pub, is supposed to be based on The ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. They are characterised by their poetic lyrics and evocative music which are strongly influenced by the native English countryside.

History

And Also the Trees formed in 1979 in Inkberrow, a large village in

,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 203 with a lineup featuring two sets of brothers:

Simon Huw Jones Simon Huw Jones or Simon Jones is an English vocalist, lyricist and photographer, best known as the singer with the band And Also the Trees. Biography Simon Huw Jones was born in Birmingham, England in 1960 but grew up in rural Worcestershire ...

(vocals), Justin Jones (guitar), Graham Havas (bass) and Nick Havas (drums).

1980s

The band made their live debut on 12 January 1980 at Grieg Memorial Hall in

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditc ...

. A home demo tape was sent to

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

, who were looking for support bands on their tour, leading to a friendship between the two bands. In 1981, And Also the Trees played several shows in support of ''The Cure's'' UK tour. Their second demo tape, ''From Under the Hill'' (1982), was partly co-produced by Robert Smith and Mike Hedges. Graham Havas was replaced at this time by Steven Burrows. In 1983, the band released their first single, "Shantell", which was produced by The Cure's

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew "Lol" Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is a founding member and the former drummer and keyboardist of English band The Cure - he left the Cure in 1989 and was later involved in the band Presence and his current project, Levinhurs ...

. Their second single, "The Secret Sea", followed in 1984 and was also produced by Tolhurst. Tolhurst also produced their debut studio album, ''

And Also the Trees And Also the Trees are an English rock band, formed in 1979 in Inkberrow, Worcestershire. They are characterised by their poetic lyrics and evocative music which are strongly influenced by the native English countryside. History And Also ...

'', which was released in February 1984. The band received the attention of

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, and were invited to do a session in April 1984, which was produced by

Dale Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1 ...

for broadcast on 24 April. The EP ''A Room Lives in Lucy'' (1985) introduced the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

-like guitar sound which became their trademark for the next few years.Hager, Christa (2016)
Neue Geschichten von And Also The Trees
, ''Wiener Zeitung'', 23 April 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2018 It gave the band their only placing on the

UK Independent Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, peaking at number 30. The next album, '' Virus Meadow'' (1986), was followed by their first European tour, which yielded the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''The Evening of the 24th'' (1987). Another EP, ''The Critical Distance'', was released in 1987. The singles "Shaletown" and "The House of the Heart", and the next album '' The Millpond Years'' (1988,) were produced by Mark Tibenham. '' Farewell to the Shade'' (1989) was followed by the single releases of "

Lady D'Arbanville "Lady D'Arbanville" is a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens and released in April 1970. It subsequently appeared on his third album, '' Mona Bone Jakon'', released later that year. It was his first single released after signing a contract wi ...

" (a completely revised

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

) and the French-only "Misfortunes".

1990s

In 1990, they changed their management. The band toured America during the following year, and reactivated contact with the Cure, which resulted in the USA-only release of the EP ''The Pear Tree'' featuring a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

by Robert Smith and Mark Saunders. In 1992, the band released their last album produced by Tibenham, ''Green Is the Sea''. They promoted it with a two-leg European tour including Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France. Fan pressure resulted in a digital remastering of their singles and EPs, and the release of ''From Horizon to Horizon'', a CD collection of primarily single and non-album tracks between 1983–1992. They issued their sixth studio album ''The Klaxon'' in 1993, and the band toured during the following year, which resulted in the release of the live album ''Le Bataclan'' and a tour video from a concert in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 1995, Justin Jones and Tibenham, along with Antonia Reiner, collaborated on a project called G. O. L., which resulted in the release of the album ''Sensations of Tone'' and the single "Soma Holiday". The album featured a cover version of the early And Also The Trees song "There Were No Bounds". The band's seventh studio album, ''Angelfish'' (1996), centred on a British perception of

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

. It was the last album with drummer Nick Havas, who was replaced by Paul Hill. And Also the Trees-LiveInDortmund1998

Their eighth studio album, ''Silver Soul'' (1998), was also the band's first release on their own record label. The band released an EP, ''Nailed'', the same year as well as a video compilation, ''Live 89-98''. On the 23 April 1998 the band played their first UK date in seven years at the Axiom Arts Centre in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

2000s

After a five-year break, And Also the Trees released ''Further from the Truth'' (2003), recorded in the Worcestershire countryside and co-produced with Matthew Devenish. In 2004 and 2005, And Also the Trees played several shows at

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s such as the Paleo Festival and

Wave-Gotik-Treffen The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...

in Germany. They celebrated their 25th anniversary with the ''Best of 1980–2005''

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

. ''Live in Geneva'' (2006) showed the band in action on their ''Further from the Truth'' tour, as well as some video and film projects. That same year, Simon Huw Jones collaborated with Bernard Trontin of

the Young Gods The Young Gods are a Swiss industrial rock band from Fribourg, formed in 1985. The original lineup of the band featured singer Franz Treichler, sampler player Cesare Pizzi and drummer Frank Bagnoud. For most of their history, the band mainta ...

for a project called November, releasing an eponymous album on Swiss label Shayo. And Also the Trees' 10th album, ''(Listen For) The Rag and Bone Man'', was issued in November 2007. It featured two new members, Ian Jenkins (

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

) and Emer Brizzolara (keyboards,

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

and

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

). The accompanying photographs were taken by French photographer Jérôme Sevrette. In June 2009, the band released ''When the Rains Come'', containing acoustic versions of previously released songs and one new track. This was followed by another acoustic album, titled ''Driftwood''.

2010s

In the summer of 2011, the band worked on new material in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and France. Later that year, Justin Jones provided guest guitar on the

Othon Mataragas OTHON, a.k.a. Othon Mataragas, is a London-based Greek composer, pianist, songwriter, producer, DJ and club promoter. He is mostly known for combining classically infused composition with electronic productions and experimental songwriting. Apar ...

album ''Impermanence'' (with

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

on vocals, and also featuring

Ernesto Tomasini Ernesto Tomasini (born 15 May 1968, in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 35-year career on the stage. Early Performances Tomasini ...

, Laura Moody and

Camille O'Sullivan Camille O'Sullivan is an Irish musician, vocalist, and actress. O'Sullivan is known for her unique, dramatic musical style and covers of artists such as Radiohead, Tom Waits, and David Bowie. As an actress, O'Sullivan has appeared in Mrs Hend ...

), followed by an intimate concert at London's

Chelsea Theatre Chelsea Theatre is a studio theatre located on the Kings Road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, ...

to launch the album. The band's 12th studio album, ''Hunter Not the Hunted'', was released in March 2012. And Also the Trees' 13th album, ''Born Into the Waves'', was released on 18 March 2016.Jean, Amandine (2016)
And Also The Trees, un groupe “trop anglais pour les Anglais”
, ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

'', 13 May 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2018 The band's current live lineup also includes Grant Gordon on bass guitar and Colin Ozanne on clarinet, guitar and keyboard.

Musical style

And Also the Trees have been described as a

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

group. The band's aesthetic sensibility has also been related to British

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and melancholy in poetry and the arts.Melody and Melancholy
by

Eugene Thacker Eugene Thacker is an American philosopher, poet, and author. He is Professor of Media Studies at The New School in New York City. His writing is often associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker's books include ''In the Dus ...

, ''Mute Magazine'', 25 August 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2015.

Band members

; Current lineup *

– vocals (1979–present) * Justin Jones – guitar (1979–present) * Paul Hill – drums (1998–present) * Colin Ozanne - keyboards, clarinet, guitar (2015-present) * Grant Gordon - bass guitar (2015-present) ; Past members * Graham Havas – bass guitar (1979-1983) * Nick Havas – drums (1979-1997) * Steven Burrows – bass guitar (1983-2007) * Mark Tibenham - keyboards (1988-1992) * William Waghorn - trumpet (1994-1998) * Dale Hodginson - guitar & keyboards (1998) * Ian Jenkins – bass guitar, double bass (2004-2015) * Emer Brizzolara - keyboards, dulcimer, melodica (2004-2015)

Discography

Albums

Studio

* ''

'' (1984) * '' Virus Meadow'' (1986) * '' The Millpond Years'' (1988) * '' Farewell to the Shade'' (1989) * ''Green Is the Sea'' (1992) * ''The Klaxon'' (1993) * ''Angelfish'' (1996) * ''Silver Soul'' (1998) * ''Further from the Truth'' (2003) * ''(Listen For) The Rag and Bone Man'' (2007) * ''When the Rains Come'' (2009) * ''Driftwood'' (2011) * ''Hunter Not the Hunted'' (2012) * ''Born Into the Waves'' (2016) * ''The Bone Carver'' (2022)

Live

* ''The Evening of the 24th'' (1987) * ''Le Bataclan'' (1994) * ''Prémonition hors série'' (1991; EP)

Compilations

* ''A Retrospective 1983–1986'' (1986) * ''Et aussi les arbres'' (1987) * ''Boxed Set'' (1990) * ''From Horizon to Horizon (Singles 1983–92)'' (1993) * ''1980–2005'' (2005)

Demo albums

* First demo cassette (1980) * ''From Under the Hill'' (1982)

EPs

* ''The Secret Sea'' (1984) * ''A Room Lives in Lucy'' (1985) * ''The Critical Distance'' (1987) * ''Shaletown'' (1987) * ''The House of the Heart'' (1988) * ''Lady D'Arbanville'' (1989) * ''The Pear Tree'' (1991) * ''Nailed'' (1998) * ''And Also the Trees'' (2009) * ''And Also the Trees'' (2014)

Singles

* "Shantell"/"Wallpaper Dying" (1983) * "The Secret Sea"/"Secrecy" (1984) * "Shaletown"/"Needle Street" (1987) * "The House of the Heart"/"This Ship in Trouble (Instrumental)" (1988) * "

"/"The Street Organ" (1989) * "Misfortunes"/"Belief in the Rose (Instrumental)" (1989)

Video releases

* ''Bielefeld PC69 May 1st 1992'' (1994) * ''Live 89-98'' (1998) * ''Live in Geneva'' (2006)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control English gothic rock groups English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups from the West Midlands (region)