Sometimes all someone needs is a vacation to refocus and get the creative energy flowing. That’s certainly the case for Taken By Trees, which is the project of Swedish-born, L.A.-based singer Victoria Bergsman. The former lead singer of Swedish indie pop outfit the Concretes, Bergsman left the band in 2006 to focus on Taken By Trees and in the process, has won herself a loyal following.

Bergsman took a trip to the tropical paradise known as Hawaii and there like so people who’d been to the islands, she found creative inspiration. The result is an album that blends indie folk with a tropical vibe. This is reflected on the album opener “Horizon.” Mystical yet enchanting, the two-minute song is weird enough to be indie yet exploratory to give fans a glimpse into what’s to occur over the next 40 minutes.

Keeping with the Hawaiian theme, “Highest High” has the sweet sound of a pedal steel along with the Caribbean inspired synths that gives this song a distinct island feel. This is the type of song you could listen to while sipping a Mai Tai on the beach while watching a glorious sunset. Bergsman’s voice is soothing and works within the track while the song’s title evokes the image that’s presented by the music.

“Dreams” is perhaps the most complete song on the album. Mixing dub with guitar plucking (which sounds like John Mayer, though clearly isn’t) and gently layered synths, the song has a lot going on. Lyrics like “I know a place where I can go so you can get back on you feet boy/somewhere we aught to go when the heat is on/No one will believe us when we tell them what see,” are straight forward and takes you to a faraway place, which could be a real or fictional place. Bob Dylan she’s not, but that’s not the point here: it’s to take you to another place, hence the title. Perhaps the video below will give you a better insight to what she’s going for.

If “Dreams” is the most complete song on the record, the song that best encapsulates the sound Bergsman is going for is “Pacific Blue.” Not to be confused with the TV series that aired on USA in the late ‘90s, this song combines the elements from “Horizon” and turns them into a thing to audible beauty. In fact, this song sums up the singer’s the island influences to create a terrific bliss-pop tune. The instrumentals are at their best, and though the tempo and tone change at the end of the song are as welcome as a post-sunset beer while sitting next a campfire.

Bergsman has said she was inspired by The Beach Boys’ “Diamond Head” and Augustus Pablo’s “AP Spezial.” The common link between the tracks is that they reflect nature with their use of waves, thunder and birds (especially on “In Other Worlds” and “Large”). After listening to Other Worlds, it’s easy to hear these influences are manifested in the album. Though the sound remains fairly consistent throughout, Bergsman manages to keep things interesting by varying the manner of her delivery.