Not so long after our recent video premiere, we’re super stoked to give you the first full hearing of the newes album from Catalan alternative, post rock infused post hardcore band TREES WILL TELL! “Negative Results” sees their multi-faceted sound reach new heights, moving seamlessly between post hardcore, emotive rock, post rock and soft balladry, at times all within just one song. The result is something romantic and eclectic that knows where it comes from, but which also feels genuinely fresh. To celebrate this captivating album, we have teamed up with the band to give an insightful, deep walkthrough commentary, giving you the first hand commentary about the content behind “Negative Results”, its lyrics, and a huge segment with the band’s thoughts on their local scene, the current pandemic restrictions, and some original new music and other bands recommendations, to keep you busy when you’ll need a short break from “Negative Results”. This includes “10 local bands to blow your mind” list, so be sure to scroll down to get to it and get inspired!
“Negative Results” is out tomorrow, May 11th, via The Braves Records, Gato Encerrado Records, Carcosa Records, Quebranta Records, Violence In The Veins Records, Mise-En-Scene Records.
The meaning of the title and its concept as a whole:
When we started writing this record, we found ourselves deep inside one of the most critical times of our lives, dealing with sickness, separation, members leaving the band and a whole panorama of Wake-Up Calls. This would undeniable defined the sound and background of an album that ironically we named “Negative Results” months before the whole sanitary crisis began, with out any idea that would gain such a huge new meaning months later.
The title appeared on its own. Waiting on a doctors office, after weeks of feeling terribly wrong. She came, said hi, sat down and told me I was going to be fine. She had the tests on her hand and told me the results were negative. There was a lot of things going through my head; I was my own sickness, I was eating myself like a cancer. I need it a change.
“Negative Results” portraits the importance this.
“The painfully necessity of making mistakes in our life to be able to recognize the wrong roads and avoid going through them again.”
These negative outcomes can be life long lessons that can built your persona.
Sometimes we are reluctant to open our eyes until we hit rock bottom. Its not until we are faced with the negative results of our decisiones, that we began cuestioning who are we and what we need to change. When we finally are able to understand and accept those dark chapters in our life, is when we finally found freedom from our own chains. And we tried to make a statement about it. About taking the opportinuty of stop feeling miserable for a second, and start doing something with those negative outcomes, and eventually look back and see what it has taught you and how you’ve grown.
More about the lyrical content:
In our last record, the lirical content was a bit different than this one. It was not a conceptual album per se, but in one way or another, every song eventually led to the same place; all songs were kind of around the same the subject but in different approaches; my past. My struggles about growing up in complicated relationtionships with my parents and myself, leaving my country, been away from everything I knew.
But with “Negative Results” its almost like every song is chapter of the last year, or two years of my life. It’s an album of a more present matter of subjects; My physical and mental health, my relationship with a lot of things; myself, my loved ones, a really toxic relationship with alcohol. And loosing all confidence in me, but eventually regaining it by transforming all of that in series of songs. That cathartic power of art.
“Negative Results” does justice to its title. In a really… weird way, I needed all of those things that happened to me, so I could become who I am today. “About Crosses With No Name” talks about living with anxiety and being overally self conscious. About how absolutly everyone is struggling with something you have no idea, everyone is carrying a cross you know nothing about and in much cases could be something you’ll never imagined.
“Minimum Space Required To Breath” talks about certain stigmas and stereotipes in life; the proud and arrogant father, the inevitable heart-break in love, the protective love of the progenitor, own self-aflictment; some things seems like are written in stones, sometimes those stones crushes us down.
“Sober King / Bastard Wing” deals with drinking, deals with ego trips, and revealing sides of myself that were absolutely horrible. Or a song like “Comatose Daughter”, about being so caught up in hate you let that side of benevolence, comprehension, sensitivity die, like putting all empathy on Sleep Mode, while you’re being completely resentful, and hostil towards everything. You become like shadow on the street, just making offensive remarks and unconsciously looking for a fight because you’re angry all the time. Its really heartbreaking.
But at the ned all we want to prove is that none of those chapters define you. You can get away from that person you think you’ve become. You can get better, you can find peace again.
Plans for the future amidst pandemic:
It’s no secret that releasing an album for an underground band is always a challenge. there’s a lot of work to put into it while having daytime jobs and trying to balance both things and how expensive can be. Makes it a really arduous experience.
On top of this, the release of “negativeresults” came right in the middle of the pandemic. we argue, definitely, if we should have or not postponed everything, but we decided to move forward after all the hard work we put into making this album. We wanted to see it as sign of hope for better days. To not let this virus take more than it has already took from us. Also we believe that now more than ever, we should hold on to art as tool to heal and persevere.
But the real key moment for us came when despite the complicated times, we received a gigantic amout of support, first from our labels, The Braves Records, Violence In The Veins, Gato Encerrado, Mise-En-Scene, Quebranta Records and Carcosa Records who decided to support the project despite the complications, and the economic impact that the virus has had. And then from the people that enjoy the band; from the moment we released the pre-order, we have received such a big response, and we’re really amazed and grateful that people are willing to spend on music when we know more than half of the country are out of jobs, and also selling physical records it’s been a growing general struggle in music business in the last years.
So, yes, this has been a rollercoaster, but we’re grateful to be surrounded with people that believe in what we do, and helped us putting this record out. Now all we hope is that this songs, this stories can find a warm place inside each and everyone of them. We had a national tour planned that we had to canceled, and right now we’re waiting to see how this whole thing is going to develop. But we are definitely planning to go play and support our album on every possible city as soon as we can, and hopefully doing some shows around other European countries next year.
Coronavirus impact on local scene of Barcelona
Barcelona’s local scene is small but with very interesting and varied artists. We have from Collectives like Can’t Keep Us Down, in charge of the most underground hardcore scene, to new record labels that are putting out a lot of good music , like Navalla Discos. You can find local bands with international projection, such as Gambardella, Ànteros or Andalucía’s Habitar La Mar [see recent IDIOTEQ feature HERE]. You can find pretty cool events from post / emo concerts in a venue called Sala VOL, to hardcore shows at the Kasal de Joves de Roquetes.
If there is a problem to highlight in Barcelona’s scene, referring to the underground scene; it is the lack of venues to play; due to rental prices or simply finding availability to book shows.
COVID-19 will affect us, we have no doubt. Our scene is based on small venues in which the safety distance rule cannot be maintained when there is half a full capacity. Also it is usually supported by people that only does this for the love of art, money was an issue before, imagine now. But I am sure that all of us involved in the scene are craving to play live music again, put out more records and support again the whole underground movement of our city and the rest of the country.
Noteworthy releases this year
From Chilean American experimental producer Nicolás Jaar new album “Cenizas”, more minimalist and ethereal work that can coexist with other outcast genres, to a compilation tribute album to The Cramps with the presence of such as Metz, Daughters, Zeus! with Mike Patton or Sonido De La Frontera, made by Three One G Records celebrating their one hundredth release. This are just some of our favorites records from 2020 and one or another from late 2019 that inadvertently crept in.
– Nicolas Jar – Cenizas
– Shakers – I Need You To Know [IDIOTEQ featured]
– Weyes Blood – Titanic Blood
– Metz – Automat
– Pinegrove – Marigold
– State Faults – Clairvoyant
– Really Bad Music For Really Bad People: The Cramps as Heard Through the Meat Grinder of Three One G Compilation LP [IDIOTEQ featured]
– Bambara – Stray
– Matt Elliott – Farewell To All We Know
10 local Spanish bands to blow your mind
This catalonian duo has been playing for over 10 years, and they have one of the most eclectic proposals from the autonomous community, an experimental sound that defies the limits of “free jazz”. To something way bigger and abstract. They’re well known for their improv live skills.
From Madrid, this four-piece band play Nostalgic Up Tempo Emo/Post-Hardcore with a really organic and honest sound that makes you want to listen to it everyday.
Goods friends from our town, Barcelona, that we really admire. Making a beautiful blend between emo, indie and post rock. They’re definitely a fresh air in our scene and we need it that.
Putting our their debut EP this year, Palmar De Troya makes a strong political and social statement in a record that is as full of rage as it is of haunting melodies. If you’re into early 90s raw sound, and a Dischord or Touch and Go alumni, this is your band.
A really respected outfit in Barcelona’s hardcore scene, Serpent mix Post hardcore sounds and Punk angry riffs in a impressive way, in songs that speak loud about injustice, society and unconformity.
From Girona, they’ve just released their very first long play after a debut EP, although their members are quite well known on the local scene. An amazing album full of nostalgic waves of old school emotional core, alternative rock and remembrance of the legendary Dinosaur JR. And now with a more full presence of Marçal Coll on trumpet giving them a unique sound.
Habitar La Mar from Andalucía [IDIOTEQ featured]
You’re about to feel like you’ve been hit in the face by Roberto Duran. Habitar La Mar are full of wrathfullness, but also integrates aspects of ocultism and inner-self or social criticism, in the way of Noise and chaos macerated in a autochthonous approach of rock music.
Laid put out “Plastic Nostalgic” in 2019, and it’s a record we love. It sounds angry, and melancholic, and feels young but with a vintage vibe that reminds us about those good old days when life was easier and we didn’t knew it.
Adiós Caballos [IDIOTEQ featured]
Good friends, amazing musicians. Adiós Caballos made an ep called “LLORA” and its a wonderfull example of the exuberant talent you can find in our country. In their sound, you can clearly hear this guys have been absorbing and appreciating Post-Harcore, Hardcore, punk and Alternative rock from all decades and filtering it to the core to gain the best of it.
Raw and veracious screamo from Valencia. “Eliade” its an album full of emotions, but what its really wonderfull its the way they manage to perfectly balance quiet, melodic and minimalist passages with wrenching and violent moments.
More about TREES WILL TELL:
Formed on late 2015, Trees Will Tell had inmerged themselves into a bursting combination between Post-Hardcore, Post-Rock and Alternative Rock with a significant presence of Spoken Word. Straight from Barcelona, Spain.
Their first work was a three-song EP by the name “Violent Sounds For Weary Eyes” an early form of what eventually was going to be their sound. Uncontrolled screams and dense and melancholic melodies, the EP was recorded at Bloq Studi, and self-relesead, and allowed them to play shows around their city as well as a four city mini tour with Southeast Promotions.
Two years later, the band released their first LP “L’Appel Du Vide” this time recorded at WheelSound Studios, the record embodied a more complex and mature sound. The 10-track album was released through The Braves Records, one of the most significant independent record lables in spain’s underground music. A more grown up vision of their earlier sound, “L’Appel Du Vide” got them on the road this time on an eight city tour booked by Hache Bookings, and by the time the record was out, on february, 2018, got well spread through national rock radios, magazines and websites, Labeling it “One of the revelations of the season” (Rockzone Magazine, March, 2018) getting and 80 out 100. or “an album that walks between an inmesurable intensity, beautiful ambient passages and elegant textures that introduces the listener into an energetic dream”.(ROCK ID Magazine, February, 2018) By the end of the year, the album got to the “Best National Rock Records Of 2018” lists by some of the best media outlets of the country like Radio 3, Rockzone, MondoSonoro, Radio Primavera Sound, MiradAlternativa, etc.
After a year playing shows around the country. The band gets the openning slot for the canadian band Sights And Sounds (The side proyect of Andrew Neufeld from Comeback Kid)
and right after, they go into the studio to start working on a new full length.
“Negative Results” is the outcome. Another 10-track long play, that puts toghether that last two years of the band growing and changing into a more dynamic and dark sound, with better control of melodies as well as a better presentation of screams and heavy parts in a more minimalistic way. An album with more of an organic sound that let the band show better their emotions, spread on songs that speak about gaining strength through art and love, to overcome mental illness, death, sustance abuse, resentment, etc, leading them to a better placer.
“Negative Results” its and ode to life but also to pain. To how negative experiences can actually become a positive thing. How negative results teaches us how to avoid going on the same road twice. About the importance of failing, and being exposed to bad situations, to eventually learn something and grow from it.
The album, recorded and mixed at Wheelsound Studios and mastered by Ultramarinos Costa Brava, was presented with a first single for “About Crosses With No Name” on Radio 3’s reknown rock show “Bandera Negra”. Followed by an official videoclip for the song “All The Wasted Lights” wich features a colaboration from guitarist Víctor García-Tapia from Ànteros, and ex member of notable rock acts like Toundra or Minor Empires, and was premiered on spain’s most read rock magazine, Rockzone, with a exclusive review of the album before its release, quoting “willing to distance themselves from the cliches of the genre, “negative results” further strengthens the personality of the band.” and also “A duality between beauty and rage” and “Trees Will Tell knows how to find poetry in the bitterness of life.”
Credits:
Mario Pérez: Drums
Bon Aleix: Bass / Synth / Accoustic guitar
Dani Muñoz: Guitar
Joey Rego: Vocals
All songs written and composed by Trees Will Tell, except “All The Wasted Lights” by Trees Will Tell and Víctor García-Tapia featured on guitar.
All Lyrics by Joey Rego
Art concept and designs: Bon Aleix.
Album cover: Bon Aleix / Photograph: Francesc Gomez
Band photograph: Francesc Gomez
Recorded and mixed by: Txosse Ruiz at Wheelsound Studio
(Cerdanyola del Vallès, February, 2020)
Mastered by: Víctor García at Ultramarinos Costa Brava
(Sant Feliu de Guíxols, March, 2020)
