National Treasure

One rehearsal. Then the drums, in the rehearsal room, in two four-hour sessions. Four mics. Everything else in Nick and Astrid’s living room over two weeks in August 2003, on a 24-track Pro Tools rig lent by producer Jyrki Tuovinen. Aleksi played bass on about twelve songs on the last day. He had not heard some of them.

Mixed at Headline studios in Tampere in October. Five long days. Fifteen songs mixed. Twelve on the record. Nick wrote it all down in “Making of National Treasure”.

Released by Stupido Records on 25 February 2004. Release party at Loose, Helsinki, on 2 March, with Magnus Carlsson of Weeping Willows behind the decks. “Bolivian Adventure” went to number one on the Radio Helsinki Top the week it came out.

“Fulsome”, “Noir” and “Definition of Pop” turned up on Unearthed, a 2005 compilation from Manchester’s Littlegiants Records.

Monkeys

The first Treeball video. Directed by Sam Shingler, the man behind Montevideo and The Pansies. Shown on Levyraati on MTV3 in April 2004. Number 10 on VPRO’s list in the Netherlands.

Credits

• Nick Triani, Astrid Swan, Aleksi Mänttäri, Janne Lehtinen, Michael McDonald.
• “Blue”, “Your Dream” and “The Beginning” written by Astrid Swan.
• Produced by Nick Triani. Drums recorded by Nick Triani and Janne Lehtinen. Mixed at Headline studios, Tampere.
• Pro Tools rig and mics lent by Jyrki Tuovinen.
• “Monkeys” video directed by Sam Shingler.

Reviews

National Treasure is a surprisingly strong album that will hopefully help the band find the wider audience they deserve.

Michael Edwards, Exclaim!, August 2004

I have a soft spot for subversive pop music. The kind that’s equally cynical and sentimental. The kind where you’ll be driving your mom somewhere and she’ll say, ‘Well, this sure is a nice song.’ The kind where you say, ‘Yeah, it’s about scoring blow in Bolivia.’

Sam, 3hive.com, December 2004

‘Definition of Pop’ almost describes itself perfectly and launches into a chorus Teenage Fanclub would be proud of … Finnish record of the year so far – all round excellence.

DC, Americana-UK, March 2004, ★★★½

Treeball sound more self-confident than ever and there are loads of excellent songs this time around.

Mikko Meriläinen, Soundi, March 2004, ★★★★

They sound more and more convincing each year and I have no doubts of their plans for international recognition (anymore) … Recommended.

Ilkka Valpasvuo, Desibeli.net, 8 March 2004, ★★★★½

Astrid’s voice beats Nina Persson’s voice – as well as many others’ – with its character … A lovingly made album about love.

J, Indiepop, February 2004