Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Secrets are what define us, whether its personal or the thought of how we would truly like to be seen but the fear of rejection is too much to live with; secrets haunt us, spur us ever onwards and by keeping one close to your heart, can endear you to a friend for the rest of their lives.
Some covert thoughts though should never be kept; they should be celebrated and allowed to flourish as distinguished moments in time. Like the brave men and women who fought a different kind of war at Bletchley Park, some Secret Lives need to be seen, heard and emotionally felt for the nobility they echo out from the shadows. For Dark Green Tree and their debut album, Secret Lives, the feeling of the illustrious is too close to hide in the darkness and the obscurity.
From a chance meeting of like-minded individuals to the moment of presentation, Secret Lives reflects the nature of collaborative musicianship where the thought of individuality once stood. In an individual the music can seem dark, oppressive and anchored deep in murky waters; the sinister thoughts of holding something out for inspection can put too many people off from reaching a potential that far out strips uncertainty. Yet arguably, in any collaboration, the shadows retreat, the secret suffering and the inhibitions come tumbling out and the music displayed can be rich and forthright.
For Dark Green Tree, Ross Cockburn, Jay Brown and Cera Impala, that richness doesn’t just tumble out from behind a sturdy oak or the beauty of a weeping willow with shyness or light introspection, it leaps with pride, it practically seizes the moment to announce itself on the big stage. The songs such as Skin and Bone, Heart of Winter, Light The Fire and the serenity and deepness of Sarah, are all of a quiver, they all carry the secret out in open and it is beauty that is unlocked and enjoyed because of it.
The whispers of any secret can be both helpful and a path to destruction, for Dark Green Tree it is the flowering of obvious unconcealed source of elation. A moment in the making and one that needs to be shouted about!
Ian D. Hall