Album Review: Lost in the Trees - All Alone in an Empty House

The new punched up re-release of Lost in the Trees debut full-lenth album All Alone in an Empty House breathes life and energy into Ari Picker's symphonic pop like it's never been heard outside the band's live performances.

The album rises and falls from the beautiful folk tunes "Song For a Painter," "Love On My Side" and "For Leah and Chloe" to the raw power and energy of "Fireplace" and "A Room Where Your Paintings Hang, the latter of which resembles the raw power of Okkervil River.

The more classical leaning instrumental songs "Mvt. I Sketch" and "Mvt. II Sketch" compliment the emotional power of Picker's lyrics on the rest of the album, allowing the strings to do the singing.

This isn't a typical re-release of an album where it's simply repackaged and sent to stores practically untouched. The re-recorded parts, additional parts and remixing and mastering allows the song to jump out of the speakers, so if you already own the album, it's worth checking out again.

A key example of that is in "Walk Around the Lake" where the strings are more defined and there's the excellent boisterous tuba in the intro and big choral vocals and the huge choir going into the bridge.

All Alone in an Empty House is a true pop gem with a rare eye for genuine musicianship, sincere songwriting and complex, yet uncluttered arrangements. It's an album that should be in any collection.

All Alone in an Empty House will be released on Aug. 10 via Anti- Records.