Replanting Family Tree

In 2018, Oh Land confirmed that she would be releasing her fifth studio album in 2019. The project was inspired by several recent events in her personal life, including her divorce from husband Eske Kath, second pregnancy, and relocation back to Denmark.[2][3] She began to focus on playing the piano again, resulting in songwriting sessions and a shift in sound for the album.[4] The album was officially announced as Family Tree and released in various countries on 3 May 2019.[5][6] The album was promoted with various singles, and Oh Land embarked on a United States promotional concert tour in support of Family Tree in the fall of 2019.[7][8]

BlackBook first reported on the release of Replanting Family Tree on 27 August 2019, when they published a review of Arthur Moon's remix of "Salt" in advance.[9] The EP's cover artwork was also unveiled, and created by the Danish graphic design firm Hvass&Hannibal, a frequent collaborator with Oh Land.[10] Ultimately, The EP was released for digital download and streaming in Denmark on 18 September 2019 through Tusk or Tooth Records.[11] Outside of Denmark, Replanting Family Tree was self-released by Oh Land to digital retailers.[12] Oh Land is credited as the primary artist on all editions of the E{, except the Spotify version, where Moon is also credited. American musician Thomas Bartlett solely produced Replanting Family Tree, and is credited with co-writing four of the five tracks.[1][12][11]

On 27 August 2019, the Arthur Moon Remix of "Salt" was announced as the EP's lead single.[9][13][14] It was released for digital download and streaming in various countries on 4 September of the same year.[15] In the US, the remix was distributed to campus radio stations for airplay on 24 September 2019, according to the North American College and Community Radio Chart.[16] The track listing for Replanting Family Tree revealed four remixes of songs, created by American musician Arthur Moon, that also appear in their original forms on Family Tree. The final song on Replanting Family Tree, "When a Hawk Comes By", is a previously unreleased song that was originally intended for the parent album.[12]

Thomas Bartlett (shown) produced Replanting Family Tree and co-wrote four of its five songs.

Replanting Family Tree is an electropop remix EP with an "energetic" and electronic-inspired sound that completely reworks the songs on Family Tree.[13][17][18] RJ Frometa from Vents magazine described it as a collection of lush electropop tracks.[13] River Beats's Jared Winkel called the EP a complete rework of Family Tree, which he described as a musical departure from Oh Land's previous works and "far more personal than anything she's ever released".[17] When working on the remixes, Moon was inspired to completely "reimagine" the songs on Family Tree and present them with an electronic-heavy production, unlike their original versions.[9][19] Regarding the opportunity to work with Oh Land on the project, Moon explained: "It was such a privilege to get to dig into the magical worlds Oh Land and Thomas Bartlett created on these recordings."[20] Oh Land explained the project's concept: "Replanting Family Tree is like the upside down of my album Family Tree. It's got a very electronic and playful vibe which gives the songs a different meaning... New soil, rainwater, sunlight gives an old tree with new roots in my forest."[17]

Replanting Family Tree contains with four remixes of songs from the parent album ("Salt", "Open", "Human Error", and "After the Storm") and one original song, "When a Hawk Comes By", which was written by Oh Land, her boyfriend Adnan Zukanovic, and Bartlett.[1] The EP opens with Moon's remix of "Salt", which adds "electro-handclaps, jittery beats, and piercing synth-blasts" to the original composition.[9] Eric Keith from Vinyl Chapters called it a "genre-busting" remix that is a "haunting and inventive piece".[19] The EP proceeds with "Open", a track that deconstructs its original version and is just over 2 minutes in length.[19] On the parent album, Bartlett receives a writing credit for "Open", but on Replanting Family Tree, Oh Land is credited as the song's sole writer and composer.[1][21] The "Human Error" remix premiered, in advance, days before the release of the EP, and its sound is noticeably "stripped down".[13][19] Moon's final Family Tree remix is for "After the Storm", which was described as an ambient pop song about "living in the moment".[19]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Vinyl Chapters	[19]

Replanting Family Tree received generally favourable reviews from music critics, as did the EP's only original song, "When a Hawk Comes By". Keith awarded the EP a perfect 5 star rating, calling it a "refreshing and lush record". He also enjoyed "When a Hawk Comes By", writing that the song was "simply one of the most pleasant sounding things" he had listened to recently.[19] Winkel featured Replanting Family Tree on his semi-regularly published list of "The Best New Music You Haven't Heard Yet"; in his summary of the EP, he described Oh Land's vocals as powerful and commended Moon's ability to reimagine them in a "whole new atmosphere".[17] Barbara Streidl from Bayerischer Rundfunk's Bayern 2 channel reviewed "When a Hawk Comes By" on her weekly playlist in November 2019, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.[22]

Notes:

• ^{^[a]} signifies a remixer

Credits adapted from Spotify.[1]

• Nanna Øland Fabricius – performer, writer
• Arthur Moon – performer (tracks 1-4), remixer (tracks 1-4)
• Thomas Bartlett – writer (tracks 1, 3-5), producer
• Adnan Zukanovic – writer (tracks 2, 5)