When Victoria Bergsman broke it off with The Concretes in 2006, she said that, more than anything else, she was sick of the music industry and needed to get back to the roots of what she loved doing. Lucky for us, she decided not to pack it in completely. Rather, she brought her lazy, lilting vocals — which always took a backseat to the chunky, droningly complicated instrumentals of The Concretes — to center stage in 2007’s Open Field, the first release from her solo project, Taken By Trees. The melancholy, drowsy vocal-centric record signified a new start for the disenchanted singer. She was back in business.
While Open Field made full use of Bjorn Yttling’s (of Peter Bjorn and John) production smarts, making it an auditory travel brochure of Reasons to Quit Your Day Job and Become a Swedish Singer/Songwriter, Bergsman’s sophomore effort, East of Eden, is less Northern Lights and smiling blonde bombshells and more inescapable sunlight and expansive desert.
Recorded with accompanist Andreas Söderström on a trip to Pakistan, Eden is loaded with all the trappings of traditional Pakistani music, complete with plucky guitars, xylophones, flutes, hand drums, and tinkling bells and chimes. Although from start to finish East of Eden is a love letter to traditional Middle Eastern instruments, Bergsman maintains focus on her haunting voice. On tracks like album opener “To Lose Someone” and “Anna” (featuring Animal Collective’s Panda Bear), her voice ghosts through the breathy, complex flutes and tinny guitar to retain the spotlight it should have had in The Concrete’s material. She even manages to put her stamp on “My Boys,” a bouncy, suitably Middle Eastern jaunt through Animal Collective’s “My Girls.”
While Eden’s Eastern flavor is certainly enjoyable, it walks a thin line between cultural exploration and exploitation. It’s good to see Bergsman evolving as an artist, but finding your niche and developing your craft might speak louder than such heavy appropriation. That said, Eden’s last track, “Bekännelse” (Swedish for “confession”), one of the most handmade, undone offerings on her foray into the Arabian Nights, is also one of the most heartfelt and beautiful. Seems like, at the last minute, Bergsman decided that Pakistan’s a nice place to visit, but she wouldn’t want to live there.
1. To Lose Someone
2. Anna
3. Watch the Waves
4. Greyest Love of All
5. Tidens Gång
6. Wapas Karna
7. My Boys
8. Day By Day
9. Bekännelse
More about: Taken By Trees
