Review: Lost In The Trees - All Alone In An Empty House
August 23rd, 2010
Lost In The Trees All Alone In An Empty House [Anti-]
Need to know: Lost In The Trees began with the songs of one North Carolinian named Ari Picker. Like most singer-songwriters, Ari favours the acoustic guitar but thankfully doesn’t rely on the down-and-out busker image, fleshing out his songs not only with a proper full band, but also a classical slant. With a sound self-described as “orchestral folk,” Lost In The Trees are as serious about the strings as they are the acoustic guitar, thanks to Picker’s studies on classical music at the Berklee College of Music. Astonishingly, the band call Chapel Hill their home, yet aren’t part of the local Merge Records roster; instead they signed with Anti- Records. All Alone In An Empty House, the band’s debut album, is heavily inspired by Picker’s troubled childhood. In his words: “The song‘s locations and happenings, my father‘s stone wall, the tower off the side of the house that he eventually moved into, my twin sisters who died at birth, my mother’s extreme depression, the emotional and sexual abuses, they are all real. But my intention in sharing them is to turn this hard reality into art, something that the listener may find comfort or hope in.”
In a 100 words or so: Excuse the pun, but it’s impossible not to get lost in All Alone In An Empty House. As eye-rolling as that sounds, it’s true. Whether it’s Picker’s deeply personal and tragic anecdotes or the incredibly poignant arrangements, this is an album that calls for an environment of solitude, headphones and a rain-splattered window to truly immerse yourself in the music. The classical component is more than just strings as an accent in the background. Picker and his band may have composed these songs on guitar, but they’re as much the product of a conductor and an orchestra (see the two instrumental Mvt. Sketches, which sound straight out of the Naxos catalogue). To steal a title from Dave Eggers, this is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.
Best track: “Wooden Walls Of This Forest Church”
R.I.Y.L. Bright Eyes, The Swell Season, Timber Timbre, Ray LaMontagne, Bon Iver
Rating: 8.5/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy.
Sample: “Walk Around The Lake” http://www.anti.com/media/stream/811
Website: LostInTheTrees.com
Posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 3:36 pm by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
