Premiere: Graintable – The Rain In The Trees

Music

Graintable returns to Ransom Note Records for his third album.

The moss-covered trees stretched high up into the sky; standing tall amidst the lingering fog that adorned the space with an air of magic and enchantment. Throughout the forest hidden pathways and charming wooden bridges meandered in different directions, bordered by plants and foliage in shades of vibrant green. Where they led was a mystery, you’d have to follow them in order to find out.

The Rain In The Trees marks Graintable’s third meditative album for Ransom Note Records, following Herons and Universal Ash in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Impregnated with the sonic essence of the Pacific Northwest rainforests, the soothing ambient and drone sounds on his newest outing are entirely produced live via Graintable’s signature analog synth improvisations.

The title track is a blissful contemplation of the surrounding nature, recreating the introspection achieved when walking alone in the forest. Late-night sessions in the studio brought about unique ambient compositions, impregnated with the sonic essence of the Pacific Northwest – tracks of mind-boggling ambient, drone and synth that caress the listener’s ears like waves at the end of the Columbia River. These soothing sounds conjure up lonely places amid a vertiginous tempest, where the sampling of noise crescendos and softness of sounds come together to accompany the dream synths wrapped up in a cloud-like fleece.

Whilst his previous R$N release Universal Ash was a reflection on decay and loss, The Rain In The Trees is indeed like a phoenix rising from those same ashes. It touches on themes of rebirth and finding your way. Like new trees sprouting in the aftermath of a forest fire – which was often occurring in the Pacific Northwest during the recording of these soundscapes.

The title, ‘The Rain In The Trees’, is borrowed from a book of poems by W.S. Merwin. It’s saying ‘yes’ to creating art that’s deeply influenced by nature. Merwin was writing poetry inspired by the rainforest in Hawaii and similarly, here Graintable is making music that’s influenced by a different climatic region, the one of the rainforests in the Pacific Northwest.