Worcester alt-folk project turns inward, letting motion unfold around the listener
Worcester-based project berm arrive with highway through the trees, a debut album that approaches movement from the opposite direction. Instead of pushing forward, the record expands outward, creating a slow, immersive space where the listener stays still while everything else shifts.
Led by songwriter Dan Lambert, berm operate in a restrained, atmospheric lane of alt-folk. The album leans heavily on nylon string guitar, soft keys, and layered harmonies, building a sound that feels panoramic without ever becoming overwhelming. The pacing is deliberate. Songs unfold gradually, prioritizing mood and detail over momentum.
There’s a cinematic quality throughout, but it’s quiet rather than grand. Tracks like “cigarette” carry a slow-burn weight, balancing intimacy with distance. The writing focuses on memory and perception, often questioning whether what’s being remembered is accurate or reshaped over time. That tension becomes one of the album’s central ideas.
Across the record, Lambert circles themes of memory, mortality, and gratitude. “leave this place” reflects on childhood environments without longing to return, while the title track examines how certain moments resurface with unexpected clarity. Elsewhere, “epilogue” and “last time” confront mortality more directly, framing it as something that arrives without ceremony.
What ties everything together is the balance between specificity and openness. The lyrics provide enough detail to anchor each song, but leave space for interpretation. That approach extends to the music itself, where minimal arrangements still feel full due to careful layering and restraint.
The band’s core lineup—Lambert, Z Harris, and Gretchen Neff Lambert—keeps the sound grounded, while collaborators add texture without disrupting the overall tone. Cello, pedal steel, and subtle percussion widen the palette, but never pull focus away from the songwriting.
The album was recorded at Big Nice Studio in Rhode Island, and the production reflects a clear intention to preserve the natural feel of the material. Nothing feels overworked. The performances remain close, almost conversational, even as the arrangements expand.
There’s also a strong sense of process behind the record. Lambert’s songwriting comes from accumulation—small fragments of lyrics and chord progressions that eventually merge into full compositions. That method gives the album a connective thread, where ideas feel related even when the subjects shift.
highway through the trees doesn’t chase immediacy. It invites patience. The reward is in how the songs reveal themselves over time, not in any single moment.
In that sense, berm aren’t asking the listener to move with the music. They’re asking the listener to stay still long enough for the music to move around them.
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