Arbouretum from Baltimore drop by Berlin on their European tour to treat us to some psych/folk rock awesomeness in White Trash, brought to you by Magnificent Music, Future Days and our good selves here at Blitzgigs.de.
Arbouretum is David Heumann (vocals and guitar), Corey Allender (bass), Buck Carey (drums) and Matthew Pierce (keyboards)
Arbouretum’s fourth studio album The Gathering was released February 15th through Thrill Jockey Records and we’re still digesting it’s myriad images and all round psych/folk-rock brillance.
It has everything you’ve come to expect from Arbouretum, that vintage sound, chugging guitars and driving rhythms, epic guitar solos, a bit of reverb here and some echo on the vocals there, but somehow with the loss of a guitarist and the addition of keyboardist Matthew Pierce to the band the record sounds more complete than previous efforts, another step forward in Arbouretum’s evolution.
Standout tracks are Destroying To Save, Highwayman and epic closer Song Of The Nile with its guitar solo sent to us from the gods. However, it’s their cover of Jimmy Webb’s The Highwayman that really acts as the centrepiece of the whole record. Fourth song in it’s perfect timing, providing breathing space for the record. It’s a stripped down, straight up love song to the mystery of existence in which Heumann’s voice shines through like the celestial raindrop at the end of the song, beautiful stuff.
Here’s the album in it’s entirety, thanks Thrill Jockey, you’re the greatest.
And because we live in the greatest city in the world let’s give Arbouretum the welcome they deserve by bringing plenty of pre-rolled mischief along with us to add to proceedings, who knows, maybe the band would like one too.
Here’s Waxing Crescents off The Gathering live in Baltimore recently.
