Treelo
Esta EP
self-released / independent

Ain't MySpace a marvel? Not only is it the perfect way to skive when I'm supposed to be working, but as soon as I discover an unsigned band I like, I can write to them and ask them if they want any of their CDs to be reviewed in Luna Kafe. It's a win-win!

Treelo is Marcus Simmons from London, and he's created a rather fine album in Patches of Blue, and now the excellent Esta EP. It's the kind of assured singer-songwriterly fare that I too often overlook because it sounds simplistic, and then find myself returning to for the very sake of that simplicity, which I interpret anew as immediacy. However, Treelo also stirs in plenty of shoegazey sounds to keep the ears happy and the atmosphere spacious and vaguely ominous. Best comparison I can muster is early Badly Drawn Boy, especially the EPs and The Hour of Bewilderbeast, before he started releasing saccharine shite.

Esta has the finest Treelo song yet, "Favourite girl", a seven-minute float through misty melancholy that's quite exquisitely affecting. Opener "6am" is a crunchy indie-rock epic that demands to be played loud, "Skin so cold" is an eerie string-drenched ballad, and "Blue skies over Africa" is like Nick Drake at his most carefree.

My feeling is that Marcus has got quality songs streaming out of his arse. I'll happily be there to catch the next gust of Treelo magic.

Copyright © 2006 Tim Clarke