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| Photo courtesy Anti- Records |
The first time I saw Lost in the Trees, there were 15 or 16 people on stage — nearly half a chamber orchestra, multiple percussionists, all backing the lush songwriting of frontman Ari Picker. Since then, Picker has changed directions and changed his sound, while never losing the lush tones of those 15 or 16 people, now produced by a stripped down, 6 person LITT. “Rites”, the first single off upcoming 2014 LP Past Life, is as thickly sonic and haunting as early tracks from the original masters of All Alone In An Empty House, and the dark, shivery video of “Rites”, just lyrics and the shadowed forms of the backs of two running figures, echoes the lonely and spare vocals that harmonize and chime over it.
I’ve had the pleasure of not just seeing and photographing LITT for many, many years, but also considering many members past and present as friends, and this song, this video, and the direction that Picker has chosen to take with the project’s third full length release, is just as magical and eerie as the songs I heard him play for the first time back in 2008. Picker’s talent for lyricism that feels like a shard of ice in your heart slowly melting has never faltered, and it is abundantly clear in this video, which is beautiful and which is a delicious taste of the spare and gorgeous songs which are sure to come on Past Life.