DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: Scattered Trees

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 17, 2011 6:40PM

Scattered Trees are in the midst of a resurgence. The band grew up just outside Chicago, playing music together casually before forming Scattered Trees and garnering attention locally for their warm, upbeat harmonies about love and life. But progress tapered and the band almost broke up in ‘09, as members started drifting apart to pursue their own endeavors. It was the death of lead singer Nate Eiesland’s father that pulled them back together - Eiesland’s mourning took the form of songwriting, and the rest of the band flew in last February to record the tracks, which would become the bulk of their upcoming album Sympathy.

The band is preparing to release Sympathy this April, and to celebrate, they’re giving away a free download of the single "A Conversation About Death on New Year's Eve." As its title suggests, the song is a fictional dialogue between Eiesland and his father. Heartfelt vocals relate discourse like, “I’ll be there when you wake up from this dream, when you turn your life into a story,” accompanied by a lushly textured, melancholy melody. Several tracks on Sympathy take on the form of dialogues between Eiesland and his father, as he explains on his personal blog, where you can also find a line-by-line analysis of “Conversation.”

Aside from the upcoming album, Scattered Trees have a busy year ahead of them. They’ll soon release a short documentary, “Six Stories,” which will narrate the band’s story. They also intend on doing some heavy touring through 2011, but not before performing in Chicago. You can catch them this Friday at Schubas with indie rock opener Urbanites.

MP3: Scattered Trees - “A Conversation About Death on New Years Eve”

Scattered Trees play Friday, January 21 at Schubas, 3159 N Southport, 9 p.m., $10, 18+