Fine China first entered our collective consciousness in the late 90s through a trio of EPs for Velvet Blue Music. Seamlessly blending indie pop with layered synths, they soon exploded in 2000 through their Tooth & Nail debut When the World Sings and one of the catchiest songs of the era, “We Rock Harder.” They released two more albums up through 2005 and then there was a lengthy silence.
Most of us assumed the band had finished until 2018 when the band started releasing music again, just as prolific as before. Since that time, they’ve issued another 2 full-length albums and 3 more EPs. When a band returns after a lengthy hiatus, it is often accompanied by a lot of excitement; it is also frequently laced with a bit of trepidation. Would the band (any band) still sound good after such a long time? Would they change styles drastically, or play it safe and stick to what they became known for? Both scenarios have been tried to varying degrees of success by hundreds of bands.
If anything, Fine China–always a standard-bearer in alternative pop music–improved. Some of their second period EPs featured the synth-driven indie pop we’d come to love, but interspersed were lengthy ambient tracks, and songs that leaned more into rock and roll. Somehow the band had kept their original sound and somehow managed to stretch their audience’s expectations and capacity to hear more.
The band’s revival has been inspiring to say the least, and dare I say the latter era is even greater than the former. We did a lengthy interview with Rob Withem here, just over a year ago where we talked about the above and a whole lot more.
“Trees at Night” comes from the 2022 EP of the same name. The track just might be some of the best pop music that the world has to offer. And . . . they’re one of ours.
