Track Review: "Just A Little" by Church of Trees (Written By Darren D. Danahy)

Before I get started on my track review, I’d like to say that this reviewer would have loved to review the entire Church Of Trees album, “Pish Posh”, but seeing as I’ve contributed to one of the tracks on the album, I feel it may represent a conflict of interest, so I’ve chosen a track to review that is possibly my favorite one. Luckily for me, it appears twice on the album in different versions. I will start with my favorite, the “Rob Preuss Mesmerace mix” of the track. This track starts with a few seconds of ambience before hooking you in with (the now-official Church of Trees) singer Stella Panacci’s “la la la’s”, catching your ear with their fairy-tale sweetness, and you’re barely given a moment to breathe before the first verse and the incredibly catchy back beat kick in - you will find yourself scrambling for the lyric sheet so you can sing along like I did. Everything in this mix of the song is equal parts shiny and infectious, bubbling joy through all sonic frequencies. Like most of us during the past couple years with the pandemic and intense isolation and division, even amongst friends and family, this sweetness is so very welcome... it reminds me, like the song says - that we need to live/love/dream “just a little more” because it’s never been more apparent how much we all NEED to.

If I were to complain at all about this song, it would be about the fact that it ends after four minutes or so - but lucky for us, there is another mix of the song on the album - the original mix by Jordon Zadorozny. The original mix of the song is definitely more “album oriented”, for lack of a better term - it takes a little more while before letting you know how catchy it is, as if downplaying itself with a sense of knowing pride. Jordon’s mix on the track relates to Pish Posh as a whole very well, as can be said of how it relates to the overall sound of Church Of Trees. As someone that has come to be a fan, all my favorite COT elements are here in the songwriting and production.

I can see why there are two versions on the album, and I personally would not be able to decide which of these would be best to place on it. In contrast, I would choose Rob’s mix to introduce newer, and perhaps younger listeners to the band - though they both say what needs to be said equally well. I am thankful to hear, in a recent interview with Church Of Trees' mastermind, Bernard Frazer, that he is “always writing” (indeed, the band is prolific - and seems to be increasingly so), because I’m confident that once you’ve been converted to this particular church, you’re going to need a little more - in fact, MUCH more.

You can check out the full Church of Trees album on their Bandcamp page.

-D.D. Danahy for PerturbRadio