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. – William Ruhlmann
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