Video Drum Cover – Cats On Trees – Sirens Call

When Cats on Trees released “Sirens Call”, it became the song that introduced the Toulouse duo to a much wider audience. Yet the story behind their breakthrough single is surprisingly close to being a story about a song that never happened. Written and composed by Nina Goern and Yohan Hennequin, the track eventually became the second song on their 2013 debut album, Cats on Trees.

The duo have explained that they spent a long time working on the song because they could not find the right arrangement. Nina later recalled that the melody was good, but the arrangement simply was not working. They were close to leaving it off the album. During the final stages of recording, however, she sang the melody and played a new idea over it. Their label director immediately recognized its potential and encouraged them to record it. What had almost become a discarded song suddenly became their breakthrough single.

For a drummer, this evolution is particularly revealing. Cats on Trees have always been built around the unusual relationship between piano and drums, with Nina providing the melodic and harmonic foundation while Yohan Hennequin supplies the rhythmic architecture. Contemporary descriptions of the duo emphasize how their compositions combine delicate piano harmonies with an inventive, propulsive percussion approach.

Hennequin‘s drumming on “Sirens Call” is not simply accompaniment. His rhythmic playing gives the song its forward motion while leaving enough space for Nina’s voice and piano to remain emotionally exposed. The groove demonstrates how a drummer can create energy through consistency, accents and carefully controlled dynamics rather than relying on constant fills. For anyone studying the track, the interplay between the pulse and the melodic phrasing is one of its most rewarding features.

The song quickly became a centerpiece of the duo’s live performances. In 2013 and 2014, they performed it extensively during their European touring, including concerts with a string quartet. Their schedule eventually approached 200 dates across countries including France, Germany, England and Spain. They also performed “Sirens Call” at the Maroquinerie in Paris during the launch of Europe 2 TV, with Nina and Yohan performing together on stage.

The song continued to follow them long after its original release. In 2021, Cats on Trees performed “Sirens Call” live at the RTL2 studios during Le Double Expresso, showing that their first major hit remained part of their musical identity years later.

For drum fans, “Sirens Call” is a wonderful reminder that great arrangements sometimes emerge through experimentation and subtraction. The song almost disappeared, but the right rhythmic and musical idea revealed what had been there all along—and Yohan Hennequin‘s drumming became an essential part of that discovery.