Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees Harrison
- 1 Daydreamin 01:07
- 2 Cowboys 01:44
- 3 Outta This World 02:45
- 4 Overhead 02:09
- 5 Like When We Were Kids 02:00
- 6 Bump 02:03
- 7 Honey Harbor (Bill's Song) 00:45
- 8 Music Box 01:54
- 9 Around You 01:51
- 10 Float 02:25
- 11 2016 02:02
- 12 Inthecoupe 02:12
- 13 7PM 01:31
- 14 Blue Sky 02:33
- 15 A View From The Sky 01:25
- 16 Runthatback 00:49
Info for Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees
When Harrison (Harrison Robinson) began working on his third album in his modest Toronto studio in 2019, the producer and composer felt a strong desire to his artistic roots. “I knew I wanted to just make what I thought was cool, regardless of it being cheesy,” he says of the piano-centred compositions that would become Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees. “Chick Corea had a quote along the lines of ‘you have to find what sounds beautiful to you’ and that really stuck a chord with me.”
Like his previous two albums, Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees sees a handful of guests stepping into the producer’s technicoloured world, including Kadhja Bonet, TOBi, Nanna.B, MED and Guilty Simpson (their first reunion since J Dilla’s The Shining in 2006).
The album taps into themes of awakening from daydreaming, impacts of solitude, odes to younger selves, emerging from dark moments, honouring family members that have passed, carefreeness and more. The songs incorporate an array of instrumentation including Farfisa keys, breakbeats and a music box that was gifted to Harrison, as highlighted in the song of its namesake. Harrison drew inspiration from cartoons such as Looney Tunes and Gumball to Vince Guaraldi soundtracks.
Taken as a whole, Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees is an assured and joyful statement from a young artist evolving and finely honing his craft. Or as Robinson himself puts it, “It’s the music that I dreamed about making as a kid.”
“Harrison is a high-achieving polymath...His work fuses synthetic beats with complex, jazz-like arrangements, and on ‘Float,’ he distills these sounds into a smooth, delicate soul rhythm.” (NPR Music)
“…a chef's kiss of a downtempo R&B jam for a dreamy two-and-a-half minutes.” (CBC Music)
Harrison Robinson
Harrison Robinson
When Harrison (Harrison Robinson) began working on his third album in his modest Toronto sudio in 2019, the producer and composer felt a strong desire to his artistic roots. “I knew I wanted to just make what I thought was cool, regardless of it being cheesy,” he says of the piano-centred compositions that would become Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees. “Chick Corea had a quote along the lines of ‘you have to find what sounds beautiful to you’ and that really stuck a chord with me.”
Like his previous two albums, Apricity (2018) and his 2016 debut, Checkpoint Titanium (which earned the attention of the prestigious Polaris Music Prize), Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees sees a handful of guests stepping into the producer’s technicoloured world, including Kadhja Bonet, TOBi, Nanna.B, M.E.D. and Guilty Simpson (their first reunion since J Dilla’s The Shining in 2006) To help complement his artistic vision, the producer enlisted the help of illustrator Elijah Anderson, whose single artwork recalls classic Blue Note covers and classic Saturday morning cartoons like Schoolhouse Rock.
Taken as a whole, Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees is an assured and joyful statement from a young artist evolving and finely honing his craft. Or as Robinson himself puts it, “It’s the music that I dreamed about making as a kid.”
This album contains no booklet.