Brilliant Trees

The first solo album, a British number four that Melody Maker called a masterpiece.
David Sylvian, 1984

Released
25 June 1984
Recorded
August 1983 to early 1984
Studio
Hansa, Berlin; The Church, Crouch End, London; mixed at AIR
Label
Virgin
Producer
Steve Nye, David Sylvian

Recorded in August 1983 at Hansa in Berlin and over about six weeks in London, with vocals cut at The Church in Crouch End and the mix at AIR. The players included Holger Czukay, Danny Thompson, Jon Hassell, Mark Isham, Kenny Wheeler, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri. Sylvian chose them while arranging at home: he wrote the end of the title track around Hassell's trumpet before contacting him, and he preferred to record musicians one to one. Red Guitar reached 17 as a single, and Melody Maker's Steve Sutherland called the album a masterpiece. In 2012 Sylvian still called Czukay's contribution a work of genius.

Track listing

  1. Pulling Punches5:02
  2. The Ink in the Well4:30
  3. Nostalgia5:41
  4. Red Guitar5:09
  5. Weathered Wall5:44
  6. Backwaters4:52
  7. Brilliant Trees8:39

More from David Sylvian

Secrets of the Beehive (1987), Dead Bees on a Cake (1999)

Sources

  1. Brilliant Trees, Wikipedia
  2. Master Craftsman, Sound On Sound (1987-03)