For the Love of Trees, the upcoming album by Clíodhna Ní Aodáin, is a meditation on the living presence of trees. Due for release on August 14, 2026, the album gathers seven short pieces that invite listeners into a quieter relationship with the natural world.
Ní Aodáin’s creative practice for the album was guided by direct experience. She brought her cello into forests, sat beneath trees, and listened until a sound or melody emerged. This intuitive process allowed her to create music that feels less like a description of nature and more like a conversation with it.
The trees that shaped the album include Linden, Rowan, Redwood and the Fairie Tree. The focus track, “Linden Tree,” reflects the calm strength and gentle wisdom of the Linden tree through a spacious sonic landscape. Across the album, Ní Aodáin uses cello improvisation, voice, piano and delicate environmental textures to create a meditative listening experience.
The project was recorded in Boulder, Colorado, on the cello of David Darling, the Grammy Award-winning cellist known for his expressive and deeply human sound. Grammy Award-winning producer Mickey Houlihan produced the album, helping bring together its acoustic, vocal and atmospheric elements.
Ní Aodáin has said that her hope is for the music to inspire people to spend time with trees, listen more deeply and experience the peace that nature offers freely. In that spirit, For the Love of Trees stands as both a recording and a gentle call to step outside, pause and reconnect.