hemlocke springs’ debut, the apple tree under the sea, is a ten-track alt-pop concept album built from EDM, synth-pop and bedroom-pop instincts. Its story follows a central character dealing with chaos and repression before reaching a more open, self-directed life, with titles such as “the red apple,” “sever the blight” and “be the girl!” giving the sequence a clear symbolic thread. The playful vocal approach keeps that heavy subject matter from turning solemn, and the tracklist’s “sense is (prelude)” and “sense (is)” pairing suggests an album made to be heard as a whole rather than picked apart into disconnected singles.
hemlocke springs co-produced and co-wrote the album with BURNS, and the partnership places the release between polished electronic pop and the more personal feel of bedroom pop. It comes through AWAL, Good Luck Have Fun and hemlocke springs, with distribution by Good Luck Have Fun and The Orchard. The paid release is available in FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF and 320 kbps MP3, alongside vinyl and CD editions. Fans of left-field pop with a strong visual or narrative frame should find plenty to follow here, especially if slick electronic production and unusual song titles are part of the appeal.
