The song "Ice" from Sarah McLachlin's album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is a fragile, understated ballad that shatters the listener with its deceptively poisonous lyrics. It is a refreshing jolt of shudders amidst an often tumultuous album. Boulder's Marie Beer, one gets the impression has heard this song, as this mood of haunted gentleness hovers over Cherry Tree. Which isn't to say that Ms. Beer isn't capable of insights, or melodic moments of her own. It merely seems that the divine Ms. M is an influence that has yet to be fully outgrown.

But it is not fair to solely compare this artist to another. Beer has a seductive, luminous voice that never strains. Instead, she intimates her messages of romance, loss and wistfulness in a near-purr that draws you in and makes you listen to what this woman has to say. Also, her piano accompaniment is more than adequate as is the understated playing of her backing band. The production on the album is crisp and clear.

The strengths of Cherry Tree are easily grasped. Beer is one of the few Boulder troubadours who seems almost incapable of over-emoting her lyrics. And lyrically she can be an astute portraitist. For example, in her song "Allen Ginsberg" - the albums' most original moment - she explains, "...My friend Meredith had him in class and she said 'that man is one serious asshole. All he ever thinks about is picking up boys...'" It is a wry, incisive moment.

But this sharp observational tone is undercut by the chorus that repeats "I am outta here / I am going somewhere warm." She departs from the specific to the unspecific, when more details about her picture, not fewer, would serve the song better.

Generally the tempos and arrangements on this group of songs are more, rather than less, consistent from song to song. To be honest they can border on the monotonous. The tempos tend to be slow, the arrangements spare - often little more than a piano and a couple of backing instruments. If Beer is going to stick with these basic settings she needs to sharpen the details in her lyrics. Then her lovely voice can do the rest.