Review | “Common Grounds” by The Hardy Tree

A captivating palette of musical subtlety and delicate thoughtfulness

The Hardy Tree is the ongoing musical project of Frances Castle, the illustrator/owner behind the exquisite Clay Pipe record label.

Fragile and precious, yet confident and assured, the calm atmosphere of this magical record daringly proposes a radical redefinition of chamber music – both ethereal and assertive, it primarily inspires free-associative daydreaming, but also boldly declares as music for the dawning of a new aesthetic consciousness, an artist's statement issuing a gentle manifesto of flawlessly argued romantic conviction.

This idiosyncratic credo of supra-aesthetic integrity is at once whimsical and rich, its wistful playfulness consisting of warm harmonies and emotionally generous chords that follow each other effortlessly, painting a panoramic vista of sonic bliss – not a cliché in sight, plenty of odd details to captivate the ear and help the mind's eye travel: the entire aural landscape is as pretty as it is intense, dominated by a horizon burning from end to end, its receding edge perpetually aflame with the sunrise of possibilities.

Defying genre categorization, there are broad influences from incidental soundtrack music, baroque pop, analog synth obscurities, studio effects, and illustrative sounds reminiscent of library records – yet the ultimate effect is neither retro nor obscure, remaining fresh and engaging, consistent in its meditative tranquility, never wavering from its carefully curated ethos, confidently aware of its assured status as a timeless classic.

According to Castle, this record (her latest release, in late 2022) is “the soundtrack for urban walks through Victorian London suburbs. It was started during the first 2020 lockdown - when time moved very slowly and travel away from home became impossible. Like many others with nowhere else to go, I walked the streets of my neighborhood for exercise and well-being. I began to see the ghosts of the people who had lived here before me and noticed the things they had left behind; shapes of ancient tram tracks creeping under the tarmac, an old gas street lamp in an alleyway, a tiny metal sign indicating a culverted river. I spent my evenings writing and recording the music on this LP, and then the following day, I would listen to the rough mixes as I walked, the music began to soundtrack the walks, and the walks began influencing the type of music I was creating.”

Exemplifying an elaborate sensibility that prioritizes arcane musicological traditions like archival erudition, harmonic intelligence, and an early modernist intention for music conducive to gentle reverie (think Reynaldo Hahn, Maurice Ravel, Georges Auric or even Eric Satie), “Common Grounds” is yet another instance of radical singularity, part of a dominant cultural trend defining this decade as a pioneering era for research in the science of exceptions.

Text written by Panagiotis Chatzistefanou, Berlin, January 2024