Once a Tree
Fool’s Paradise
(Independent)
4/5
BC-born and Toronto-based Indigenous electro-pop duo Once a Tree’s new EP, Fool’s Paradise, is coming out on November 20. The two members of the group—partners Jayli and Hayden Wolf—focus on experiences they’ve had on the EP’s songs, with powerful results.
The songs on the EP—which follows up 2017’s debut full-length Phoenix—show that the two have a strong instrumental connection, but it doesn’t overwhelm the songs. And they both have great voices.
Although upbeat and melodic for most of the release, the title track, which is the last on the EP, nods to the duo’s dark past—the two were, apparently, raised in a doomsday cult. Before that, they lay down “3 Day Trip,” a song about love, gratitude, and generosity, and “What You Say,” where Jayli sings that “what you say, what you mean, are two very different things.”
Fool’s Paradise is a meaningful EP full of insightful yet personal stories.