Lost In the Trees - All Alone In an Empty House

We don't get to use the term "orchestral indie-pop collective" all that often but it is certainly as accurate a description as we can muster for Lost in the Trees, the Chapel Hill, NC amalgam led by singer, songwriter, composer and arranger Ari Picker. Seeing strings on stage as backup for a performer or band is commonplace now but Picker, a Berklee graduate who wanted to compose symphonic pop a la aspects of The Beatles or Brian Wilson's music, thinks big for his ensemble. With a core of six backing musicians adding strings and brass shadings, LITA doesn't just add texture, however --  Picker's compositions make the baroque arrangements as critical as the basic folk and pop melodies themselves.

All Alone In an Empty House (Anti-) is an expanded and remixed version of Picker and company's 2008 album, with two additional tracks. Noted indie producer Scott Solter (Spoon, St. Vincent) worked with Picker on the revamped and expanded (and, in parts, re-recorded) version of House, an album that received solid reviews but limited, small-label exposure. Picker describes the project as "intensely personal songs mingling with string quartets", partly the result of listening to lots of Vivaldi and Chopin with a hefty dose of Joni Mitchell's Blue. "Song for the Painter" exemplifies the LITA style, a touching and simple folk melody that slowly transforms itself into something more while the title track is even more ambitious, swirling strings and dramatic punctuations building in cinematic intensity. Recommended.

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Lost in the Trees - "All Alone In an Empty House" (from All Alone In an Empty House)

Lost in the Trees - "Song for the Painter" (from All Alone In an Empty House)