IN THESE TREES, a collaborative indie music project led by WPKN host and author Binnie Klein, is set to release its debut single, “Orchard,” on Friday, September 17th, 2021. The song features lyrics by Binnie Klein, music and vocals by Australian artist Tartie, and was produced by David Baron (The Lumineers, Lenny Kravitz, Meghan Trainor).
Binnie Klein is a longtime radio host (“A Miniature World”) on Bridgeport, Connecticut’s WPKN, dubbed “the greatest radio station in the world” by The New Yorker. She is also the author of a critically acclaimed memoir Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind and has published essays and poetry. Klein found herself drawn unexpectedly to the new terrain of songwriting. Her lyrics were initially inspired by the themes from her 2018 audio series, “Ten Days in Newark,” a story of adolescent love, heartbreak, and the radical politics of the 1960s. While sorting through the many submissions for her radio show, Binnie was particularly captivated by an Australian singer-songwriter who calls herself Tartie. The two women, continents apart, separated by time zones and a pandemic, began to explore collaborative possibilities. Tartie’s musical take on Klein’s lyrics of memory, loss, betrayal, and ultimate liberation was just the right fit.
With a poignant animated lyric video to accompany the release, "Orchard" features David Baron’s lush arrangement of strings (Alex Waterman), keys (Baron), and Tartie’s emotional vocals. The song is an anthemic outcry about letting go, a theme that hits close to home during a time of global grieving. “Orchard” takes on an additional meaning as we face the devastation of climate change: The man who ravages the orchard thoughtlessly can stand in for our collective carelessness about our planet. But Klein’s words remain hopeful and propel us forward, challenging us to not only heal but to evolve.