Ones to watch: Visions of Trees

Say hello to Joni Juden; a Finnish producer, songwriter and all-round music techie who makes up one half of electropop duo Visions of Trees.

Since teaming up in 2009, he and London singer Sara Atalar have caught the eyes and ears of the underground pop scene with their distinctive brand of dark and sinister dance music.

Ahead of their latest release, 'Sirens (Novocaine)', we called up Joni to talk about his fascination with nature, '90s R&B and what we can expect from their forthcoming album.



Your press release says you both have an interest in the wilderness; is that where your name comes from?
"Definitely. It's quite interesting and appealing to us. It's about the idea of solitude - I grew up in a small place in Finland and the two went hand-in-hand."

What sort of things do you get up to in the wilderness?
"Sara is from Essex, which I'm sure is very different to where I'm from! I had the name of the band before we met at the end of 2009. I had an idea of what I wanted the project to be and she put forward her own ideas after."

Describe your new single 'Sirens'.
"I don't want to say it's clubby, but it's definitely more pop than most of our recent stuff. It's a dark pop song."

It sounds like it's geared more towards the chart than your previous offerings - was that intentional?
"In some ways, yes. There's something quite interesting about pop music and the charts that we both love. Sara brings a whole other element to the song - she does things on it that I could never do alone. It's definitely one of our clubbier offerings, but it wasn't a conscious aim at the charts. Most of the songs are quite heavy and dark."

It's still got quite a sinister tone to it...
"I couldn't do a track that has no meaning behind it - ones that's just for the sake of it - and everything we do seems to have quite dark and sinister undertones to it. If I'm honest, it's the only type of music I can do, so that's why we do it!"

Listen to 'Sirens (Novocaine)' below:



You're also a DJ who cites '90s R&B and hip-hop as a big influence; who are your favourite acts from that era?
"We're both big fans of TLC and we're very into early Destiny's Child and a lot of stuff earlier than that."

Boyz II Men are coming back soon; were you a fan of them back in the day?
"No way, really?! I didn't know that. I can't say I was massively into them but obviously I love all the hits like everyone did."

What song is a safe bet to get everyone on the dancefloor?
"I play a lot of Prodigy which seems to go down well."

What can we expect from your next album; will it all sound like 'Sirens'?
"We've been doing a lot of writing and we finally seem to have found a sound that suits us. None of the songs have been finalised, though. We'll see where this single takes us first. It'll be a lot dancier than our previous work as there's quite a heavy trance influence going on. 'Sirens' may not even make the final cut - we'll have to see!"

It sounds like you're a bit of a perfectionist...
"I am! I can't let anything out of the studio. I'm so nervous about this single coming out; it feels really weird."

Visions of Trees release 'Sirens' on October 3. Their new album follows next year.