Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The mixed emotions, the taste of an intoxicating, anything goes atmosphere; the piercing and stimulating feel of a time which you can only ever imagine having lived, inhabited and immersed yourself into as you wander around Upper Manhattan in search of the next big star and cool smooth voice. These are the qualities the listener will find on the stunning album by House of Trees, the superb Where’s The Butcher, Where’s the Baker?
There is something more to the band than just the elegance of Folk/Jazz and the return to a time before the hedonism and the self-indulgence and despair of the 1930s really kicked in, Where’s The Butcher, Where’s The Baker? is grounded in the same way that Caro Emerald portrays her music, the abundance of thought, true consideration to each and every word in the lyric to give the song so much meaning, so much intrigue and depth that lead vocalist Djamila Skoglund can be found to be narrating a dark twisted tale worthy of the Nordic past. The light elegance that surrounds the vocals, Rob Coe’s guitar and pump organ and generous feel of the double bass are matched string for string, sound for exciting sound by the wizardry of Sarah Anderson and Helena Skold’s violins and Lard Paulsson’s clarinet.
For those that ever wondered about these things, the tiny tinge of mounting jealousy in not having been able to listen to some of the greats of the age that frequented the bars on 77th Street, there is now the chance to show the past just what is possible with greater technique and the burning desire to bring to life a tremendous lyric. If you think of the legendary Billie Holiday singing the song Strange Fruit, you are on the right lines. In tracks such as David Has Fallen, the creepy but tantalising I’m The Clown, the dig at the self-serving in Still Ain’t Got Mine and the wealth and utter lavishness of hedonistic glory wrapped up in a voice so silky it could be allowed into a desert tent and fed grapes and sweetmeats for life in the song Easy In, that return to a time of splendour but with a kick of narration is all to be found and being performed by House Of Trees.
Where’s The Butcher, Where’s the Baker? is an album of sheer quality and a must have for anybody who takes the genre seriously.
Ian D. Hall