Imagine taking that ephemeral last walk through the streets of your hometown. Despite whatever negative emotions you may associate with the sidewalks, buildings or parks, everything takes on a much different tone in the moments before you leave it all behind. Instead of remembering the sadness of a lost friend, or the loneliness from an ill-fated love, our thoughts instead dwell on what brought a smile to our face – what made us feel most complete. It is exactly this sort of nostalgic sentiment that lies at the heart of The Mountain and The Trees’ Hop, Skip, & A Jump EP.
Such a romantic ideal is universal in scope – some might say generic, or overdone. As the album demonstrates though, the folksy musings of Jon Janes are anything but. While the man behind the pseudonym ‘The Mountains and The Trees’ revels in a laid back environment on his latest effort, the up-and-coming Canadian songwriter rings with a certain intimate authenticity.
Hop, Skip, & A Jump begins on a testament to this, with the poignant lament "Up & Down". The opening number sees hints of glockenspiel and melodica straddle Janes’s soft voice and eloquent musings admirably – as he so perceptively states: "We go up and down like a boat on a lake / We go round like a car on the busy motorway / Always in motion, never the same." While the two songs in between are admirable, Hop, Skip, & A Jump is at its best here and amidst the stripped down majesty of closer "Goodbye Little Town".
Perhaps his most notable feature, Janes rejects the boundaries of a traditional singer/songwriter. Playing a diverse arsenal of instruments, he knows exactly when to add a taste of something different in order to spice up his musical recipe. Whether it is glockenspiel, trumpet, bells, or violin, The Mountains and The Trees sees the perfect amount of accenting for today’s folk troubadour.
Overall, Hop, Skip, & A Jump is most swaying when Janes songs center on the more personal side of his songwriting. When something truly strikes his heart, he expresses his emotion poetically, though more importantly in an honest and genuine fashion. The songs in question speak for themselves, and while the four-song EP is just a translucent window into the thoughtful, reflective world of The Mountains And The Trees, the taste leaves you unquestionably wanting more.
MP3 Stream: "Up and Down"
