This week’s featured record is ‘Natural Habitat‘, the brand new album from Leeds-based post-punk/indie/alt band Treeboy & Arc.
Natural Habitat is Treeboy & Arc’s most ambitious release to date, after the original version was scrapped. With the opportunity to really experiment in the studio, the songs recorded became darker, harsher, and more brutal sounding than any of the original demos the band had recorded themselves. With two singers and two lyricists, the meaning of each song feels completely separate from the last. From anxiety to the supernatural, whether disguised by cryptic language or told as “matter of fact”, the album discusses the full spectrum of emotions.
They pit pop songs against avant-garde, kraut-punk noise to see which elements come out on top, perfectly setting the scene for abstract tales of disillusionment, loss, ill health and the occasional Bob Mortimer obsession. The lyrics often dark and sinister sounding, you don’t need to listen hard to hear the tongue-in-cheek wit and cynicism in their deliveries that is so often associated with the North of England.
Favourite tracks: Midnight Mass, Virtual Reality Check, False Objects, Winter Of Existence, Human Catastrophe…
‘Natural Habitat‘ is out now via Clue Records / EMI North. Buy it here and stream it below.
Natural Habitat Tracklist:
- Midnight Mass
- Retirement
- Virtual Reality Check
- Box Of Frogs
- Human Catastrophe
- False Objects
- Character Building
- Behind The Curtain
- Winter Of Existence
Photo credit: Jord Mercer