John Metcalfe has had a long association with Peter, providing almost all the orchestral arrangements for both the Scratch My Back and New Blood albums, as well as featuring on many of the songs on the album i/o.
Often referred to by Peter as his ‘go-to‘ orchestral arranger, John has also released six albums in his own right. His album The Appearance of Colour was released on Real World Records in 2015 and his new offering Tree has also just been released on the label.
The album is available on CD, LP and all digital platforms and the music takes us on a journey through twenty-four hours in the life of one of nature’s most majestic creations, the tree.
Written for live players and recorded in Abbey Road Studios to convey human connection at scale, Tree imagines what it would be like to be sat completely still under a tree that you love, being alive to the ever-shifting interplay of light, colour, weather and sound.
Shimmering pulsating layered tracks take the listener on a voyage that takes in the dawn chorus, depicted by conversations between chirruping woodwind and staccato strings, through to the solemnity of dusk and into the playful night. The album at times summons up the folkloric power of ancient forests through an emotional crescendo in emotion and sound, before bringing us back to sunrise, and a reflection on the journey we’ve taken.
This record isn’t a political statement, he says, but it’s clear to him that as science progresses, and as climate breakdown progresses, people are trying to find deeper ways to understand and cherish nature.
“It’s about the music that people are trying to create to connect with things that are huge and beautiful and inexplicable around them.”
Tree is John’s beautiful, emotional attempt. “My album’s about describing our relationship with something as every-day and extraordinary as a tree, and how it can be an incredibly important part of who we are.”
Tree is John’s beautiful, emotional attempt. “My album’s about describing our relationship with something as every-day and extraordinary as a tree, and how it can be an incredibly important part of who we are.”