A PLACE FOR YOU TO RUN AWAY

I would love to know if this band under a different name would still inspire me to go hug a tree, but I suppose the point is moot. The ARBORISTS opt for psych tilted ponderous folk with fully loaded references to and reverence for Mother Earth. The 6 tracks are all on the mellow side with understated vocals and acoustic guitar, along with cello, but brassiness in a couple of the pieces helps give the listener a second wind.

The EP opens eerily on the chanted "intro", an arrestingly lovely brief piece, which flows into "Grove of the Patriarchs", reminiscent of the more folk oriented early MOODY BLUES tracks, particularly in the acoustic guitar style. Pleasant enough, it's actually one of the more conventional songs here. "the Miller and the Painted Lady is an improvement, mostly due to the imagery conveyed by the lengthy clarinet solo. "Change" is the centerpiece and succeeds in elevating the entire production: mesmerizing, shape shifting and melodramatic, it embodies the progressive and pagan spirits, a yin with maybe the second cousin of yang in an embrace too lustful for closer relations. The EP then takes a turn back to relative normalcy for the last two tracks, the closer "Front Porch" being the better, chiefly for the sax accompaniment on the vocals and the more upbeat final two minutes of emotive voice and fiddle passages.

If the ARBORISTS were testing the proverbial waters on this abbreviated Gaian paean, I think we can pronounce "Mission Accomplished", although I wouldn't suggest you run away to get there. Rather, walk meditatively through the old growth forest under the waxing gibbous moon till it finds you. That is nature's way.