The slush pile breeds flowers. One track on a small roots music compilation sent me to this rural Maine trio. A genuine discovery, Postcards is one of the most interesting sounding albums I've heard all year, piano-laden but spare with subtle mandolin and perfectly understated harmonies.

Sirii Soucy's beautiful voice barely breaks the surface. Songwriter Garrett Soucy has imagination-- "Jacob Loved Esau Even If God Didn't" portrays Jacob as the typical annoying tag-along little brother. Soucy's lyrics are oblique and indirect, emerging only when they get sharp, like "we all knew her hands had smelled a lot like gasoline" from "Fire in the Basement." If Soucy's lifting from his diaries, he's run them through DaVinci's backwards hieroglyphs first. There's a lot of religion in Postcards, and the depth and seriousness may take listeners by surprise (Satan makes several appearances-- he washes the hands of the girl who smells like gasoline-- and you have to assume he's more than a figure of speech). 

The album perks up every so often, on "Sweet Annie" and "1-2-3," for 
instance. "In Memory of Me" has a swingy piano part and an upbeat la-la chorus. "Sweet Annie" boasts three-part harmony and the memorable hook "My darlin' angel puts up with more shit than a pasture." "Wash Your Window" and "There's a Train," quiet rattly rave-ups (if there is such a thing), take the Americana road. Soucy writes gorgeous, simple melodies, such as the chorus on "Lead & Gold (Amazed)." The slow, hushed "The Good & You" feels too long until it blossoms into a low twining chorus and the stark line "I've got a clean wrist and you have a blades." The rest of the lyric disappears into nothingness behind a few slide guitar notes. With Postcards from Rome, Tree by Leaf shows you can paint a beautiful, richly detailed 
picture using only browns and greys.