Band : Lost In The Trees
Album title : All Alone In An Empty House
Label : Epitaph
Distributor : PIAS
Release date : 10/05/2010
Release : CD

I was somewhat uncertain as to how to begin this review, so why don’t I just start off with some excerpts from the “bio” sheet we got along with the download promo copy? Okay? (like as if your current opinion really has an influence on what’s happening next! Huhuh!)

“…Anti- Records is thrilled to announce the signing of Lost In The Trees, and inventive music collective from North Carolina, US helmed by composer and songwriter Ari Picker. The band merges the dramatic symphonic elements of classical music with the accessibility of American Folk and modern Pop, creating a sound that is simultaneaously intimate and sonically ambitious…”…big words, but there IS an intimate atmosphere thanks to Picker’s somewhat Sad Dad type of vocals and the fact that the “American Folk and modern Pop” is mostly acoustic (except for the song “Fireplace”, during which an electric guitar is added to the whole).

“…Picker, who has already composed and publicly debuted his first symphony with members of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, draws band members from prestigious schools such as Berklee, Eastman and University Of North Carollina, as well as the rich Indie Rock community in North Carolina…”…among his “steady” crew, Picker counts cellists Drew Anagnost & Leah Gibson, drummer Scott Carle, tuba & bells player Mark Daumen, french horn/ (very occasional) backing singer/ bells & accordion player Emma Nadeau, and violinist Jenavieva Varga. For his live performances, he has a host of musicians (I’ve counted a total of 19 people) whom he can count on to extend the band on stage or even bring the occasional replacement in case one of his steady crew happens to be unavailable!

“…Lost In The Trees’ forthcoming album All Alone In An Empty House was co-produced by Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, John Vanderslide) who provides a sonic landscape in which Classical and Pop composition can co-exist with stirring results…”…okay, let’s put the dots on the “i” now, shall we? When talking about Classical composition, it is better to use the term “Neo-Classical”, as no Classical pieces are converted to LITT’s music, but in stead the Classical portion of the music is contemporarily composed! Besides, there IS some room for “deviations from a possible pre-set formula”. For instance, “Love” is a ballad which contains no Classical instrumentation at all, per say! On the other side, there’s a couple of instrumental compositions done with Classical instruments only, namely “Mvt. I” (weirdly enough, “Mvt. II” is not instrumental at all, and the Acoustic Pop element in it gives place for one of the more “excited” moments on the album, aside from the aforementioned “Fireplace”) and “A Room Where Your Paintings Hang”.

Putting two and two together, this Chapel Hill based outfit doés bring some nice, mostly introvert, music, but whether the usual Concrete Web reader will be able to enjoy this…I wonder? For the more open-minded among you it might be interesting to check out the songs posted at (www.) myspace.com/lostinthetrees (there’s ony 3, but you’ll get the feel). As an additional point of interest, this ain’t the band’s debut album. Nay, Trekky Records already released the band’s debut EP Time Taints Me, and followed that up by the band’s untitled debut full-length. Additionally, you may be interested in the following trivia: 1) At the 2007 Garden State Film Festival,Picher was awarded with the prize “Best Music In A Short Animation” for his score of Sarah Orenstein’s Windows, Masks, Doors..which contained music off LITT’s 2006 EP… 2) the band has “re-visited” the material from their EP, and should soon release a full-length 12-inch album (on 150 gram red vinyl)… 3) The title track off the new album is featured on the Anti- 2010 Sring Compilation album, alongside other artists on the label… 4) The band has long since gone beyond the boundaries of their own state to promote their album in the rest of the USA. A new tour starts in mid-May…no European plans revealed thus far... 5) In the US, the album will apparently only be available on August 10. End trivia, end review!

85/100

Tony.