Cinematic, expansive, and breathtakingly gorgeous, indie folk duo teepee’s “hazel trees” visual captures a muted, beautiful terrain that magnifies the song’s own raw, wintry chill.
for fans of Daughter, firewoodisland, Bon Iver, Dustin Tebbutt
Stream: “hazel trees” – teepee
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There is so much beauty in our world just waiting be found; all we need to do is go and seek it out. Indie folk duo teepee capture the majesty and magnificence of nature in their new music video for “hazel trees,” a haunting song that balances hope with hopelessness, life with death, and darkness with light. It is as much a reminder that yin can only exist with yang, as it is a recognition that these opposites are, in fact, kin: And with a beautiful natural canvas to help them tell their story, teepee tap into something lying deep inside all of us. Singing of love, connection, and loss, they tug at our heartstrings in all the right ways.
the boat, the water
they grow, we slaughter
the tears, the feathers
and words, the stars
the moon, the morning gloom
we aim at the time
what a strange paradigm
the burden, the maiden
leaving and stay, then
the door, the raven
hurting and shaken
there to warn them
hold and store them
the thorns on the flowers
hurt our daughters
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the music video for “hazel trees,” the opening track off teepee’s recently-released sophomore album Where the Ocean Breaks (January 31, 2020 via Springstoff). The Czech dream-pop duo of singer-acoustic guitarist Miroslav “Mason” Patočka and singer-electric guitarist Tereza Lavičková, teepee debuted in 2015 and have been consistently releasing music ever since.
While five years may not sound like a long time, teepee have evolved tremendously in a very short span – developing from the more standard, graceful acoustic folk sounds of 2016’s debut album Albatross, to the compelling acoustic-electric timbres and minimalist, moody textures that haunt Where the Ocean Breaks. In adding teepee to Atwood’s Editor’s Picks this January, we praised their song “Parallel World” and its longing for balance and tranquility: “Soulful vocal harmonies and dramatic melodies help capture the magic.” The band have truly taken time to explore the space between electric and acoustic sounds on their record; their songs carry the heaviness and electric spark of acts like Daughter, firewoodisland, and Bon Iver.
sooner or later our navigators
take the rudder and paddle
to reach the shore
the winner takes it all
the storm, the ladder
they wait, we scatter
the fear despite, a growing delight
the nerve the venture, slow gesture
would bring you close to overdose
soft trace there to embrace
me tenderly, like it’s meant to be
breathlessly, they’re watching me
in the serenity, nine hazel trees
As Where the Ocean Breaks‘ opening track, “hazel trees” sets the tone of the entire album. Soft, ethereal, and brooding, the track radiates with soulful and solemn vocal harmonies, subtle and nuanced background strings, and sparse, sensitive drum work. It captures, in just over three minutes, the bulk of teepee’s look and feel at this juncture.
“The song is based on one Celtic Myth that says that on the way to the other world there are nine magical hazel trees,” Tereza Lavičková tells Atwood Magazine. “The hazelnuts from these trees hold all the world’s wisdom.”
The song’s lyrics visualize this myth with arresting imagery (“soft trace there to embrace me tenderly, like it’s meant to be, breathlessly, they’re watching me in the serenity, nine hazel trees“), but nothing is quite as visually stunning as the music video itself, directed by the band’s own Tereza Lavičková: Cinematic, expansive, and breathtakingly gorgeous, the “hazel trees” visual captures a muted, ever-so-slightly bleak terrain that magnifies the song’s own raw, wintry chill.
“With the video, I wanted to capture the hopelessness of a person that is completely alone in the world, so I wanted to create sort of a post-apocalyptic world,” Lavičková says.
“What is the point of existence If there is no one else to share it with? As the main theme of the new album is hope, we wanted to make the video hopeful too, so the point is that everything becomes more bearable when there is someone you can share the grief and loneliness with. The aim was to capture the idea of the song: ‘Hazel Trees’ is about reconciliation because “sooner or later our navigators take the rudder and paddle to reach the shore” – everyone dies; without death, life wouldn’t make any sense, but “the winner takes it all” because the heartbreaking moment about death is when someone you love dies before you do.”
“Hazel Trees” is a compelling journey through darkness, toward light. Watch teepee’s new music video exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and be sure to listen to the pair’s stirring new album, out now!
sooner or later our navigators
take the rudder and paddle
to reach the shore
the winner takes it all
in other words
in another world
we’re aching hearts
aching hearts
sooner or later our navigators
take the rudder and paddle
to reach the shore
the winner takes it all
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Stream: “hazel trees” – teepee
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