“Pines in Summer Static” by Zakè and Coppice Halifax

When I think of “tree grid,” the first thing that comes to mind is something solarpunk-y, or perhaps an arboreal version of the cyber-worlds glimpsed in movies like Tron. I suspect, however, that Zach Frizzell and Brian Grainger (aka, Zakè and Coppice Halifax) probably had something far less tech-y in mind when they began the collaboration that ultimately begat Tree Grid. That is, if song titles like “Forestry Service Road” and “Old Growth” are any indication.

Still, I’d like to think that “Pines in Summer Static“ ‘s amorphous drones and textures are capable of supporting multiple interpretations, including one that envisions a blend of the natural and the technological. Obviously, technology was involved in the song’s creation — this is ambient techno, after all — but it nevertheless unfurls at an unhurried pace that suggests the movements of nature: clouds passing by high overhead, leaves drifting down from trees, tall grass rustling in the wind.

Even as the beats grow increasingly prominent near its mid-point, “Pines in Summer Static” never loses its graceful nature, which fully manifests in the denouement as a trumpet’s plaintive tones resound throughout the song’s spacious environment. At times reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s landmark work on Selected Ambient Works, Volume II, Zakè and Coppice Halifax have created a subtle masterpiece that, for all of its subdued sonics — or more likely, precisely because of them — has remained stuck in my head all week long.

Tree Grid is currently available via Zakè Drone Recordings.