HELD BY TREES AT CHATS PALACE
Not many bands carry the living DNA of their influences like Held By Trees. Their debut album Solace (April 2022) featured eight Talk Talk/Mark Hollis alumni plus veterans of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Blur and Eric Bibb. It drew wide critical acclaim, support from Guy Garvey and Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music and play on Radio 3, and charted at #4 on the Official Indie Chart and #23 on Physical Sales. The fledgling project earned press and media support.
The live band includes guitar legend Robbie McIntosh (McCartney, Pretenders, Talk Talk), Laurence Pendrous (keyboards), Paul Beavis (drums, The Waterboys), and Andy Panayi (flute/sax). After their live debut in October 2022, they recorded two EPs at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios: live tracks from Solace and new music Eventide (summer 2023). In 2024, Held By Trees collaborated with vocalist Martin Smith on the 13-minute epic ‘Lay Your Troubles Down’ and an EP (released autumn 2024), followed by a short tour.
Their second album Hinterland (April 2025) features musicians from Supergrass, Slowdive, Swans, Band of Susans, Primal Scream, Wire, My Bloody Valentine, returning Talk Talk alumni and Mark Hollis’ son Charlie. Hinterland has garnered widespread reviews from Uncut, RNR, Fireworks, The Daily Express, Prog Magazine, Magic Magazine (France) and online blogs. Press highlights: Mojo gave Solace 3/4 stars, praising ‘massive fuzz guitars’; Elizabeth Alker of BBC Radio 3 noted its ‘sparse but slightly proggy’ appeal; Record Collector called them ‘new heroes of prog/post-rock’; Classic Pop rated Solace 4.5/5 stars for fans of Hollis’s aesthetic.
