When we heard that Trespassers William were coming to town for the first time, we knew we had to ask them to play some songs for us. When the day came the weather was standard Scottish autumn (dull and raining), but luckily we were rescued by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
As most people in Edinburgh will know, the Garden is a huge, wonderfully serene space near the city centre, with a Victorian Palm House in the middle of it. Before their incredible show at the Wee Red Bar, we picked up Anna-Lynne and Matt, as well as touring mates Glissando (their session coming next week) and headed for the warm, echo-filled glass structure, and out of the rain and cold. Among the different types of palms and other plants, the duo sat down and played us some of their beautiful songs. The acoustics were amazing, as you can hopefully hear, and Anna-Lynne’s voice especially sounded jaw-droppingly sweet.
The two songs here can’t be found on any official recordings. The first, “Appointments”, is a Lotte Kestner song (Anna-Lynne’s solo project) but is not on her album China Mountain, and has so far only surfaced in some live videos. The second, “Surrounded”, began as a TW song but a version was also done by Tunnel-Tunnel (Anna-Lynne’s side project). Yes, she’s a busy girl (Matt also has a side/solo project, Disinterested). Both songs are classic TW, all gently picked melancholy and strummed lap-guitar underpinning that pure, soaring vocal.
trespasserswilliam.com / myspace.com/trespasserswilliam
We would like to thank the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for the use of their lovely venue, and Kirsten Murray for helping out with the session.
