“Come on babe and call my bluff,” Garrett sings, just as desperate as he needs to be, “I’m ready to come home/Punch out the numbers and dial me up/I’m waiting by the phone/This is not the Enlightenment babe, this is resting just above/This is not the Romance babe/this is the renaissance of our love.” Okay, so the whole artistic-eras thing looks a little cheesy in print. Trust me, it sounds pretty damn great. And I think you’ll be won over later by the Sampson reference, too.
This song also features an interesting mix, with the acoustic guitar strum way to the bottom behind a piano break from Cliff Young, the trio’s third leg and rock-solid throughout. The guitar is just a little ahead of the beat, though, quickening the heart for the otherwise restrained piano. It’s good work from Bruce Boege, of Northport’s Limin Studios, but there are other places, particularly on “Over and Under,” where the instruments are muddy. Of all the good choices he makes, keeping Garrett and Siiri well to the fore is generally among them.
Siiri, who wrote a few of the songs last album, does get room to shine here. Her first bit is the slow and sedate “Chicago at Night” (written by yet another Soucy, Erica, Garrett’s sister, who plays solo and with Jet Black Dress), where she seduces like a siren over slide guitar and well-placed snare hits. Later, she delivers her most aggressive take yet, on “Little Lost and Lonely” moving from Norah Jones to something close to Mariah Carey by the song’s crescendoing finish.
For denouement, Siiri dials it back, paired with a harmonica, to demure, “it’s only me/Little lost and lonely.”
Sorry, but that’s not going to work anymore. Tree by Leaf are a standout talent and they very much carried expectations into this album. That they delivered without playing it safe should make everyone that much more eager for their next effort.
On the Web
Tree By Leaf: http://www.treebyleaf.org/
