Just one week after the release of their dreamy indie folk debut LP, Rêver, The Copper Trees bring us a sweet and scenic music video for “Hidden View” that we’re so happy to premiere today. Bandmates Kate Neckel and Eric Lilavois once again worked with filmmaker/photographer Ryan Cory, who directed their video for “Eyes” (as well as Pearl Jam’s “Dance of the Clairvoyants”), on this idyllic visual treat. Matching the auto-themed lyrics – “There’s nothing shiny about me / I’m a rusty old car / takes a number of tricks to start me up / but I won’t let you down” – the duo is seen cruising in a convertible and having so much fun, you’ll wish you could hop in the backseat with them. Between those joyful moments, the song’s lively acoustic guitar sets the suspense for another scene: solo walking by the water until the two can finally meet face to face. When they do, as if right on cue, the sinking sun casts a bright orange and yellow glow on their sincere expressions. It’s all the chemistry of Rêver, simply captured in another format; collaborative passion so genuine that it radiates warmth on camera.
The long walk to reach one another also nods to the challenges of starting a band at the start of a pandemic – something The Copper Trees described during our interview. “At first, it was really frustrating,” said Neckel, “because we started working together in very early March. I remember being so excited. I wanted to be locked in the studio and just create nonstop. But the quarantine lifestyle has allowed us to grow our roots deeper, in a way. You know, we did a lot of Zooms. I’d wake up with a phrase or something and I’d pass it to him. There was a lot of exchange and a lot of conversation and a lot of playing guitar to each other. And when we did get back in the studio, we really were very productive and just finished up the album.”
Lilavois added, “I’ll use my mom’s words: ‘There’s a blessing in disguise.’ In a weird way, it actually brought Kate and I intensely closer together. We talk every day. We’re on the phone every day. We knew, initially, that there was something really special there. It’s frustrating to no end that some other thing was getting in the way of allowing us to be together in the studio in that time period. But we wandered our garden, so to speak. We made sure to continue to work from afar through Covid stuff. And then the second that we were able to get back into the studio, it was just like, ‘Wow, okay – the song is there.’ We had already done our homework. We’re already talking about record number two.”
Be sure to give record one, Rêver, a spin and follow The Copper Trees on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for more updates about their expressive music.
Article: Olivia Isenhart
