Leafcutter John: The Forest and the Sea

In 2006, Leafcutter John released The Forest and the Sea on the Staubgold label, carrying the catalogue number Staubgold 68 and appearing as both CD and LP. The official release date was 12 June 2006. The record marked a significant development in the work of John Burton, the musician behind the Leafcutter John name, bringing his songwriting closer to the surface while keeping the processed instrumental and environmental recordings that had defined his earlier output.

A Story Told Across Nine Tracks

The album is built around a narrative. As Burton described it in autumn 2005, The Forest and the Sea tells the story of two people who become lost in a forest. As they try to find a way out, the sky darkens. By nightfall they have strayed so deep that they have no choice but to spend the night with the forest and its inhabitants. When morning finally comes, the couple wake on a cliff top between the forest and the sea, and rather than go back through the forest they decide to take to the sea.

The tracklist follows that arc: Let It Begin, Maria in the Forest, Dream States i, Dream States ii, Dream States iii, In the Morning, Seba, Go Back and Now. The three Dream States pieces are grouped as a single span of 7:44. The album's compositions are bound together by this meticulous narrative, enriched by vocals and traditional instrumentation alongside electronics.

Electronics and Acoustic Songs

The record presents a dynamic hybrid of electronic and acoustic songs. Burton wrote, recorded and produced all the material between 2003 and 2005. He is credited with vocals, guitars, bouzouki, lyre, cymbals, timpani, accordion, trombone, piano, percussion, Leonie's music box, field recordings and electronics. The result is described as seamless transitions between electronics and songwriting, an approach that draws on his folk roots while retaining the textures of his earlier work.

Field recordings were gathered in a range of locations: Epping Forest in London, the London borough of Hackney, the northern forests of Sweden, Athens in Greece, and the Greek islands of Serifos and Alonisos. The piano on In the Morning was recorded in the middle of a forest at Silence Studios in Sweden. Parts of the album were engineered by Paul Richardson at Snakeranch Studios in London.

Guest Musicians

The album features a number of guests. Sebastian Rochford, drummer with the Mercury Music Prize nominees Polar Bear, plays drums on Maria in the Forest; Burton is a full-time member of that group. Tom Herbert, also of Polar Bear, plays electric bass on the Dream States pieces and on Now. Jo Zetlin contributes cello to several tracks. Additional vocals come from Leo Chadburn, also known as Simon Bookish, and from Alice Grant. Kristian Craig Robinson adds percussion to Go Back.

Background

John Burton was born in 1976 and at the time of the album's release was living in East London. His first release appeared on Planet Mu records in 2000, and he developed a strong musical identity using processed instrumental and environmental recordings. His previous album, The Housebound Spirit (Planet Mu, 2003), received an Honorary Mention at the 2004 Ars Electronica awards and was featured in The Wire magazine's top 50 records of 2003. He has played festivals and solo concerts worldwide and has developed a distinctive stage presence, often incorporating some form of audience interaction.

The Forest and the Sea stands as a document of that period, joining a true story to field recordings collected across Europe and to a set of songs that move between electronic and acoustic textures.