There's a certain irony in the fact that a much-respected band with 10 studio albums & almost a quarter-century behind them need an introduction, but this is one of the many paradoxes that make And Also The Trees the unique & beguiling outfit that they are.

Established in 1979 in a small village tucked beneath the wild, rural charms of the historic Malvern Hills in Worcestershire & inspired by the ideology of a still-developing post-punk movement, AATT from their very beginnings were different. Unlike more urban contemporaries like PIL & Gang Of Four, AATT were influenced almost exclusively by the landscape & history of the rural environment that surrounded them, an influence that has remained throughout their entire existence to this day. Their first, self-titled album, released in 1983 reflected those early, tentative post-punk roots, but it was with 1986's seminal Virus Meadow - an album of rich, pagan melancholy & disturbing laments - & the resulting European tours, that AATT truly found their own identity & seemingly an audience that were enraptured by the dramatic, understood the poetic nature of their work & The dense, chiming guitars & relentless rhythmic spirals perfectly complementing the rich, nursery rhyme-like lyrics of Simon Huw Jones & the almost pre-Raphaelite artwork. Subsequent albums The Millpond Years (1987), Farewell To The Shade (1989)& Green Is The Sea (1991) continued in this rich, creative, & influential vein & seemingly elevated AATT to an almost mythical status in parts of Europe where they regularly played to audiences in their thousands & introduced them to transatlantic audiences for the first time via a highly successful US tour. The release of 1993's The Klaxon, however, saw the beginning of a new chapter in the life of AATT, the esoteric, rural influences replaced by a 50's beat-group feel, still challenging & lyrical but somehow more urbane and, well, sexy. The twanging guitars, Morricone trumpets & growling organs punctuating a trilogy of releases (now endearingly referred to as the 'hard boiled crimmy' trilogy) including the critically acclaimed Angelfish (EFA CD 29201) (1996) & Silver Soul (EFA CD 29202) (1998). The last five years however saw AATT almost wilfully fade from view. No live shows or new releases gave rise to rumours of a split but in truth the band were biding their time, waiting for their muse to return with something akin to a more honest & contemporary styling.