These 12 solo piano pieces have been infused from the core out with FX and reverb, expanding the sound of the ivory sounds into swollen tones of filament and filigree. It is unclear whether the title inspired the music or the music inspired the title, but it is the perfect metaphor for this collaborative release.
A treenail is a wooden peg used in shipbuilding, water causing the peg to swell and hold together timbers. These sweetly engorged notes diffuse into each other making the songs on Treenails seem like whole entities instead of collections of played parts.
The use of varying degrees of repetition and reverb make a grand and gracefully balanced show of both the untouched and the altered playing. Both hushed and unadorned sounds huddle together in Treenails, some with the briefest starry halo of drone and some heralding hazier incoming skies. The use of reverb gives a rolling gait to some of the multiples of notes, movement and brevity keeping Paine and Crosbie from getting anywhere near new age territory.
It is only the 12 minute "Firestopping" that sails a little far from shore, and as the lengthiest track by a good seven minutes, it feels like it is swallowed a little bit too much effects. With the majority of the tracks being under three and a half minutes, the relatively short durations are more like passing periods of reflection than atmospheric pieces. It is undoubtedly beautiful stuff, songs re-forming in slow cartwheels and snatches of music heard as sonatas sinking through quicksand. They're too broad and full for mere sketches and are more mini-watercolors of mood that are stepping stones far beyond the similar experimentation of other artists.
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