If These Trees Could Talk – “Blurry Creatures”

Metal Blade Records

It is a beautiful Midwestern Sunday evening as I write this; the windows are open, the breeze is flowing, and the vibes could not be more on point to talk about the first single from the upcoming fourth studio album by Ohio post-rockers If These Trees Could Talk. Of all the great bands in their distinction, I personally don’t hear enough praise for this group, despite their 2009 debut, Above The Earth, Below The Sky, being one of my instant picks for a post-rock primer. On July 10th, they’ll release their first record in a decade, The Hidden Hand, via their latest (and slightly surprising) home of Metal Blade Records.

Speaking of surprises, the album’s lead single, “Blurry Creatures,” features a vocal refrain throughout, a rare element for the subgenre, but a strong anchor for the track as it blissfully glides through its expected instrumental movements. It’s a steady, six-minute rocker with all the peaks and valleys you want from a band like this, layers upon layers of guitars and bass over monstrous drums, alternating between delightfully pretty passages and soaring, earth-shaking power riffs.

If These Trees Could Talk have always been magnificent at creating non-intimidating post-rock, choosing to deliver crash courses of the style in digestible chunks as opposed to some of the more heady, experimental, and long-winded bands often namechecked by devotees. “Blurry Creatures” fits right in with their previous work, recalling other bands from their original era like Caspian and 65daysofstatic.

The band doesn’t have an immensely deep back catalog, so if this is your first taste of them, you’re getting in at a great time. We’ve got just about two months before The Hidden Hand unleashes into the world, a perfect period to brush up on their self-titled EP, firstthreealbums, and their first post-hiatus single, “Trail Of Whispering Giants” from 2024, which I admittedly missed myself. If trees COULD talk, they’d probably be like, “This band is sick, yo. Don’t bulldoze me.”