Lost in the Trees

Considering the circumstances that led to its creation, A Church That Fits Our Needs isn't as bleak as it could have been. Ari Picker (the North Carolina collective's leader) began work on the album after his mother took her life and, not surprisingly, there's starkness to the songs. Yet they also have a haunting beauty and that is its saving grace because this is a surprisingly lovely record. Making A Church That Fits Our Needs was obviously a cathartic exercise for Picker and, as a result, this is a very personal album, which can make for uneasy listening, at times. Picker's tenor voice has a touch of Thom Yorke and there are a couple of songs reminiscent of mid-career Radiohead, but most are more in the vein of Sigur Rós, due to their abstractness. The rich, lush arrangements are successful in softening the pain, which is evident in most of the lyrics ― pay close attention to the words and there are moments that hit like body blows.