</p> <p>It took Ari Picker—the composer and songwriter who leads Chapel Hill’s orchestrally inclined <a href="http://www.lostinthetrees.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lost in the Trees</a>—four years to follow up 2008’s <em>All Alone in an Empty House</em>. Though the record was reissued and expanded in 2010, Picker didn’t debut a full collection of new songs until this year’s haunting and fractured <em>A Church That Fits Our Needs</em>, an extension of <em>All Alone</em>‘s narrative and a tribute to his late mother. </p> <p>It seems that listeners won’t have to wait another four years for the Tress’ next effort. The band recently played a session at the Los Angeles-based radio station KCRW and premiered a new song during the performance. The tune, called “Glass Harp,” represents a tasteful evolution of the group’s sound. The keyboard added to approximate <em>A Church</em>‘s complex arrangements is utilized in a pensive, reverb-rich piano part. Picker switches to an electric guitar, too, while effects create gauzy tangles from violin solos. The result is a gracefully distorted wash of melody and rhythm that pushes the Trees into new territory without forsaking their identity.</p> <p>Lost in the Trees’ entire KCRW session is available <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb121025lost_in_the_trees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
