Trees in General: and the Larch

This track came about as the result of Merseyside promoters / record label “EmotionWave”, run by Neil Grant (Lo Five) putting out a request for submissions of 20 minute audio/visual pieces to be played in a marathon charity telethon aired online just before Christmas 2020. When Trees in General: And the Larch played out with its psychedelic tree-based visuals and writhing, groaning slo-mo vortex of analogue modular synth music, it caught the eyes and ears of Castles in Space's Colin Morrison, who immediately contacted Matthew and signed it up. Merry Christmas.

The piece represents the passage of a single winter's day in Dorset starting in the dark of a very early rainy morning, through a brightening afternoon and into a spectacularly burning sunset. All the visual footage was filmed around the Dorset village where Matthew lives and the music was directly inspired by the magnificent trees and scenery that surrounds his studio—the Twilight Research Centre—and the wildly changing light and weather conditions that a rural microclimate can bring.

Trees in General… is a companion piece to a 7” EP entitled Looking at Lifeforms which is released simultaneously for the Castles in Space Subscription Library— the two forming a scattered but connected album. Zeke Clough designed the beautiful tree artwork and the breath-taking etching which adorns the back of the 12” clear vinyl.