Harrison releases new album Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees
Today, jazz and R&B producer, composer and musician Harrison releases his self-produced third album Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees on Last Gang/MNRK, following the release of previous singles “Blue Sky” featuring Nanna. B, “Bump” featuring MED & Guilty Simpson, “Float” featuring Kadjha Bonet, and “Outta This World” featuring TOBi.
**Click to save/stream Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees
When Harrison (Harrison Robinson) began working on his third album in his modest Toronto studio in 2019, the producer and composer felt a strong desire to honor his artistic roots. “I knew I wanted to just make what I thought was cool, regardless of it being cheesy,” he says of the piano-centred compositions that would become Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees. “Chick Corea had a quote along the lines of ‘you have to find what sounds beautiful to you’ and that really struck a chord with me.”
Growing up in a musical household, the self-taught producer fell in love with acts including Japanese producer and instrumental hip-hop artist Nujabes and American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (best known for his work scoring A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Peanuts specials), and sought to capture the same warmth and childlike sense of wonder with Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees.
To help complement his artistic vision, the producer enlisted the help of illustrator Elijah Anderson, whose single artwork recalls classic Blue Note covers and classic Saturday morning cartoons like Schoolhouse Rock!. The pastoral album cover comes courtesy of Tokyo-based illustrator Kento IIDA. “It’s the happiest I’ve ever been with the visual aesthetic,” says the producer. Taken as a whole, Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees is an assured and joyful statement from a young artist evolving and finely honing his craft. Or as Robinson himself puts it, “It’s the music that I dreamed about making as a kid.”
Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees Tracklist
- Daydreamin
- Cowboys
- Outta This World (feat. TOBi)
- Overhead
- Like When We Were Kids
- Bump (feat. MED & Guilty Simpson)
- Honey Harbor
- Music Box
- Around You
- Float (feat. Kadhja Bonet)
- 2016
- Inthecoupe
- 7pm
- Blue Sky (feat. Nanna.B)
- A View From The Sky
- Runthatback