Not content with his outlets
the B-Sides and
the Never, singer/songwriter
Ari Picker adds a third group identity as
Lost in the Trees on the EP
Time Taunts Me.
Picker makes extensive use of his classical training at the Berklee College of Music and enlists some fellow students, prominently including a string quartet consisting of Alexandra Sperling (cello), Nikki Nieves (violin), Liz Lamour (violin), and
Dave Peacock (viola) to support his piano and guitar playing. The music trumps the lyrics on these seven tunes, two of which, "I've Always Loved the Fall" and "For Elizabeth John," are instrumentals. Even when there are words,
Picker is liable to set them apart and surround them with instrumental sections, as he does in the leadoff track, "Lost in the Snow." And when he does sing, it's in a fey tenor, with words full of sensitivity and uncertainty.
Time Taunts Me is a melodic chamber-pop collection that is as musically ambitious as it is lyrically precious.