CHAMPION TREES

Champion Trees - formed when cousins Francis Christie (vocal, guitar) and Lex Pienaar (bass) got together with drummer Langa Dubazana at the University of Cape Town. Taking notes from 90s luminaries Belle & Sebastian and Pavement, they set out to have fun with music and language, building a following on the back of their well-received 2022 debut album NOW 3000.

The lush arrangements of newly released second album A Duck’s Water Off My Back are a marked departure from the lean production of the band’s early material, thanks in part to the addition of new members James Bickford-Smith (violin, synthesizers), Michael Burke (saxophone), and Michelle Hromin (clarinet), whose contributions have brought new textural depth to the music. A Duck’s Water Off My Back has greatly expanded the band's following, particularly after it received critical acclaim from Outside Noise, who maintain that it features "some of the most beautiful poetry we've heard…