PREMIERE | My Tree, "Liteshine"
Introducing the Brooklyn duo My Tree; photographed by Lauren Desberg.
The cavalcades of contemporary art currently revolve around the healing, recuperation and re-imagining of what a better and kinder society could be like. These arts address our world(s), ourselves, the adversity we have to overcome, fighting against the injustices that affect members of the BIPOCs, LGBTQ+, AAPI communities and all those that have been wronged by systemic issues that hinder our universal harmony and impede upon our healthy relationships and meaningful conversations that we share as a collective people. The role/goal of the enlightened aesthete is to be a unifying beacon of inclusivity, working to make our world a worthwhile and celestial place of unrelenting grace. After all that has transpired over the course of four dreadful years, trends toward autocrats and authoritarianism, the rise of tribalism, a botched response to a deadly pandemic, a subsequent global shutdown and the irreversible damage caused that has all but entirely wrecked and destroyed our lives; gradually we trade in the internalized hurt and havoc for something redemptive and renewing. A balm that is more than just a short lasting panacea. Something that is life changing. Something that fills our spirits and hearts with a beauty and enlightenment like we have never before experienced. Something fulfilling. We as a universal artistic body work toward being and accepting the ever-turning tides of generative change that allows these bright visions of light to be witnessed by all in the inspirational hopes and continued processes of being and becoming the catalysts of constructive and creative change that we desire to see in our lives and within our shared global communities.
Embracing these active aspects of therapeutic care, renewal, rejuvenation, allyship and more are NYC’s own My Tree (Maitri) who follow their own creative trajectory from From Within and After Glow with their new record of sanctuary and elevated serenity — Where the Grace Is. The duo of Caroline Davis and Ben Jamal Hoffmann reach upward toward the eternal bright luminance of that perpetual glow with the ecological and climate concerned visual & single debut for “Liteshine”. Think a modern day gospel hymn in the grand tradition of “This Little Light of Mine”, Caroline and Ben pursue the heavenly pleasures and treasures that are strewn about earth under the auspices of a shimmering and shining solar orb of an integral and incandescent aura of life, love and everlasting hope.
Directed by Mofana Morojele, edited by Lisa Schatz with set design courtesy of Madeleine Burrow and Jaime Terrazzino; the sound and visual for "Liteshine" lets the audience join My Tree for a daylit walk about NYC to take in the hidden joys of happiness and wonder that often go overlooked and underappreciated. Vibing to the rhythm of understated beats, jubilant electro keys and cascading vocal edits; My Tree casts a galactic meditation of planetary preservation and an invitation to let the light shine both inward and upon us in the name of a higher tier of grace. Caroline's eponymous lyrical reiterations ask their listening audience to love and care for their surroundings, recognizing the perils of climate change and exalting the earthbound beauty of all that is in front of us and all around us always. From leisurely hanging about old bleachers, park walks, ocean-side strolls, sidewalks, city vistas and embarking upon a clandestine and abandoned warehouse; My Tree gathers together the found objects of discarded gems, orbs, diamonds from the rough and other riches discovered from their excursions across sunny paths and metropolitan trails. "Liteshine" is a love song to our fragile world, recognizing the bounty of inherent riches that exist all around us in our respective lives and worlds. Caroline and Ben call upon us all to be caretakers of the delicate gifts bestowed upon us in this life in the hopes that we may protect and preserve our natural ecosystems and in turn foster communities of organic splendor for the generations and eons to follow — long after our own footsteps have been evaporated by the cycles of time and transcendence.
Styling with Ben & Caroline of My Tree; press photo courtesy of Lauren Desberg.
Caroline Davis and Ben Hoffmann provided some insights on the sounds and visions of “Liteshine”:
“Liteshine” was written as a tribute to the power of the sun and impending global climate crisis. Featuring a pulsing and hypnotic groove that supports a bed of synthesizers, the song questions the trend in society to conceal objects and places that have beauty and inherent value. The accompanying video, shot by Mofana Morojele and edited by Lisa Schatz, was filmed in abandoned locations around Brooklyn. The video follows us on an inquisitive journey to collect forgotten jewels and transitions to a desolate warehouse as the song transforms into a luxuriously free epilogue. The dizzying mantra let the light shine, carries the listener into a freeing space and at its close, the team return to the outdoors, seeking out more treasures that have been left behind.
My Tree’s new album Where the Grace Is arrives July 30.
My Tree’s cover for Where the Grace Is; photography by Lauren Desberg, album art courtesy of Dylan Aiello.