Taken by Trees

Best known as the frontwoman of Swedish band The Concretes, singer Victoria Bergsman embarks on her first solo outing as Taken by Trees with the release of Open Field. In contrast to The Concretes' robust pop compositions, Open Field is a much quieter affair—a collection of intimate folk numbers that occasionally venture into the realm of low-key pop. The album's minimalist arrangements and diverse instrumentation, which feature contributions from co-producer Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John (Bergsman sang on the PBJ hit single "Young Folks"), foreground Bergsman's voice. Each track's success hinges on the delicate balance between the music's simplicity and the vocals' emotional complexity.

When Bergsman's delivery attains a pitch-perfect balance of heartache and hope, the results can prove enthralling. On "Too Young," her ethereal vocals convey the bittersweetness of loves lost while the bare-bones accompaniment of droning organs and scant drums create a trance-like backdrop. Some tracks, however, suffer from being too minimal; the tedious verse of "Julia" offers only a mundane vocal melody that stifles Bergsman's delivery and little more than monophonic keystrokes to support it. Bergsman does better on songs like "Lost and Found," where she complements her airy vocals with more fully realized musical accompaniment. Despite a few missteps into too-stark instrumentation, Open Field proves to be a largely satisfying album due to the intangible beauty of Bergsman's voice and the simple emotionality of her diary-like lyrics.

—Jay Watford
09.11.07

Victoria Bergsman's first project after 11 years fronting the Concretes is a minimalist, introspective affair. Instrumentation is sparse, mostly relegated to twinkling piano and lightly tapped drums. Bergsman co-produced the album with Peter Björn and John's Björn Yttling, recording all the tracks in just six days, stressing restraint to guitarist Andreas Söderström, percussionist and Yttling bandmate John Eriksson, and all the other players. Some listeners who found Bergsman whimsical and cheeky guesting on Peter Björn and John's worldwide smash "Young Folks," might be surprised with the more serious, chamber pop atmosphere here. Bergsman is known for her shyness and for featuring her cute cat Chico in her songs and on her website, and she's had a few well-publicized collapses from stage fright in the past. Open Field is the kind of hushed, romantic album one would expect from such a delicate artist. Inevitable hints of Nick Drake arise in the arrangements, particularly on the intermission-like title track, but it's Bergsman's cool singsongy vocals that dominate everywhere else. Highlights include the spooky, driven "Tell Me," which comes across like a midnight mission through the woods, the easygoing toe-tapper "Julia," and perhaps best of all the soaring Gainsbourg-esque "Lost and Found," composed by Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell. One could criticize the album's generally downbeat mood and often repetitive songwriting style, and one could argue that Bergsman's fragile, sometimes broken voice would fare better with fuller musical backing. A subsequent, brilliant cover of the Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child O'Mine" and Open Field's Campbell-penned "Lost and Found" suggest that with a little more time in the studio and fewer rushed compositions, Taken by Trees might reach a larger audience. That said, this sort of personal, raw effort from will delight longtime fans and inspire bedroom musicians from Sweden to the United States. ~ Tim DiGravina, All Music Guide