East of Eden

Personnel: Sain Muhammad Ali (vocals, tumba); Victoria Bergsman (vocals); Sarah Assbring, Noah Lennox (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Dan Lissvik.
Recording information: Italy; Pakistan; Sweden.
Taken by Trees is the solo project of Victoria Bergsman, a former singer for the Concretes whose most indelible mark on the pop landscape came as a guest vocalist on Peter Bjorn & John's 2006 smash-hit "Young Folks." Working with guitarist/producer Andreas Soderstrom, Bergsman's recordings as TbT reveal a more somber, though equally bewitching, cast, emphasizing stripped-down arrangements dominated by finger-picked acoustic guitar and simple hand percussion. EAST OF EDEN, Bergsman's second album in collaboration with Soderstrom, take recordings made in Pakistan as a springboard for studio-crafted songs containing just a tinge of local influence (from the Qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to the more ritualistic strains of Sufi music). Far away from being an overcooked and ultimately watered down version of "world music," EAST OF EDEN is actually strengthened by its limitations, with Bergsman's reworked Eastern melodies and the intimate, close-miked feel of the recordings only adding to its considerable, authentic charms.