Three years on, the long shadow of lockdown still looms over music. Furry Trees is the work of three Irish producers – Ciaran Meister (aka Mangetout), Kieran “Sherry” Sheridan (aka Pink Letter) and Sam Kay (aka SKPSM) – who began working together, separately, in their respective home studios in 2020.
This EP is the first fruit of that collaboration; four tracks that conjure something of that strange, unsettling time in their blend of hushed vocals, field recordings, eerie electronics and skittering drum patterns. Each track was built piece by piece, initial musical sketches gradually being added to by the trio – no more than two parts by each producer at once – until a completed track emerged over time. If that sounds like a painstaking, dislocated process, the wonder is that this brief EP sounds as coherent and complete as it does.
Two Shapes opens proceedings with rhythmic tape hiss, snatches of voice and a gorgeous, plangent piano line before building patiently to a crescendo of harsh electronic drums and an ominous synth arpeggio, ultimately resolving somewhere near where it started. As a piece of cinematic mood music, it’s both unsettling and beautiful. An instrumental version of the same track closes the release, but before then we have Shaded, its dub bassline and widescreen drama heavily reminiscent of Forest Swords or Holy Other, and the gently hypnotic In Green Fields, which evidences a more pastoral, and hopeful, side to the project.
Furry Trees may owe their existence to a period of isolation and dread, but this debut EP points the way to a brighter future.
Words: Chris Jones
Furry Trees – Two Shapes Shaded In Green Fields
