Lisa Papineau: Red Trees

Lisa Papineau: Red Trees
Lisa Papineau is not a name that is immediately recognizable, yet her resume is fairly impressive. She is the lead singer of the band, Big Sir. In addition, she has contributed vocals to songs by Air, M83, and P.O.D. among others. Papineau expands her resume with her second solo album, Red Trees.
There are two basic types of songs that appear on Red Trees. The first are acoustic guitar-based tunes. Take for instance “Annette Tessier”. The track’s backbone is an acoustic guitar played in a classical manner. This type of guitar work is what made Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven”‘s intro so memorable. But Papineau’s arpeggios never give way to a rock crescendo like Led Zeppelin, instead they are content to remain soft and tame.
The second type of track found on Red Trees is electronic beat manifestos. “White Leather Pants” is probably the most accessible song on the album. The track features a strong dance beat with French sounding accordions. Adding in Papineau’s vocals, the song reminds me of the Bird and the Bee. Unfortunately, “White Leather Pants” is one of the few stand out tracks on the album. The Parisian waltz, “Touch Time Out” could be one of the best tracks on the album had it only included some vocals. Instead the track feels like a filler instrumental sandwiched between two vocal tracks.
In the end, its hard for me not to feel a little disappointed with Red Trees. The album has plenty of good starting points, but many of the tracks feel unfilled. One rock crescendo or the addition of vocals could have easily turned a mediocre album into a strong album, unfortunately that was not the case. The album remains feeling a trifle unfinished
Rating: 4.5/10
MP3: Lisa Papineau “White Leather Pants
Buy: iTunes or Insound