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* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
Artist..: The Innocence Mission
Album...: Hello I Feel The Same
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Folk, Emo, Ethereal, Introspective
LABEL....: Korda SCENE.....: 2016-02-19
BITRATE..: 713 kbps avg STORE.....: 2015-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 11
SIZE.....: 172.3MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innocence_Mission
- TRACKLIST
1 Hello I Feel The Same 2:12
2 Tom On The Boulevard 3:43
3 Washington Field Trip 2:57
4 When The One Flowered Suitcase 3:22
5 Barcelona 2:29
6 State Park 3:12
7 Fred Rogers 3:13
8 Blue And Yellow 3:03
9 Daily 3:07
10 Spring Is Written On Your Door 2:43
11 The Color Green 3:41
Total Playtime: 33:42
Five years is a long time to wait for a new The Innocence Mission album,
right? What do you mean, you've never heard of The Innocence Mission?
A short bio. Karen and Don Peris met at a school production of Godspell.
Three albums on A&M between '89 and '95. Originally augmented by a full
band,but since æ99s Birds Of My Neighborhood an occasional threesome with
Mike Bitts. Skated the thin ice of celebrity with songs included on the
Empire Records film and episodes of Party of Five (what do you mean, you've
never heard of Party of Five?). Loosely branded as collegiate folk or
dream-pop. Recorded with Joni, John Hiatt and Natalie Merchant. Released
consistently since the turn of the century until 2010s My Room In The Trees.
Karen released a solo album, Violet, in 2012; Don has several solo efforts to
his name.
They are the best band you've never heard.
The Innocence Mission play music that is both easy but infuriatingly hard to
describe. If you want easy (read:lazy), it's folk; words like pastoral,
autumnal and elegiac are considered de rigueur. Karen's voice is æelfin',
æbreathy'. In truth, The Innocence Mission are all those things and so much
more as to be embarrassing for any writer wishing to articulate their
particular brand of melodic salve without falling into cliche.
They write songs from primary evidence, often of subjects that dive deep into
the beige mundanity of life; how the weather was that morning, perhaps, the
colour of trees on a Winter walk. Dreams are wrapped in slow bass
progressions, the lighting difficulties of a road-trip selfie consume whole
lyrics, loved ones are remembered in haunting upright piano. Songs build from
simple guitar or piano lines, occasionally interrupted by relaxed snare
rhythms or parsimonious organ or piercing harmonica. Verses break your heart,
bridges mend it.
Each beat, each bar is carefully measured and considered, supporting Karen's
voice through songs like a precious stone swaddled in velvet. Albums rise and
fall in time with your chest when you're sleeping. They are unafraid to
splash moments of colour but on the whole they are wonderful rivers of
reflective melancholy that make you glad to be alive at a time they're making
music. The Innocence Mission are comfort food, a warm house at the end of a
walk in the cold, the best hand you've ever held.
The wait has been worth it. Tom On The Boulevard, Washington Field Trip, The
Color Green, the subtle Flamenco grace notes of Barcelona. It's all soà
beautiful.
Nothing I've said does them justice. They are the only band I've ever heard
that I can't describe û they defeat my vocabulary.
*
While some fans still pine for the full-bodied folk-rock sound of the band's
early-'90s major-label era, the Innocence Mission have essentially been an
acoustic folk act since the release of 1999's Birds of My Neighborhood. The
comforting, hushed style they presented on that record has remained largely
unchanged over the years and the bulk of their output since then reflects the
quiet, intimate world of husband-and-wife team Don and Karen Peris. After a
five-year break, the Innocence Mission pick up right where they left off on
Hello I Feel the Same, the Pennsylvania group's 11th studio LP. Even if their
stylistic evolution has somewhat plateaued, their songs remain as sharp as
ever, with Karen's poetic slice-of-life snapshots revealing a warm inner
world of family, friends, and the inevitable passage of time. This
tender-voiced introspection has been her bailiwick since the beginning and
her mastery of wistful melancholia and living on the vague edges of seasons
is unparalleled. Those without a sentimental bone in their body will likely
be unable to connect with the band's hazy nostalgia, but more sensitive
listeners will find themselves transported to a world of eternal autumn by
lovely tracks like "Washington Field Trip" and "State Park." With its
pastoral guitar soundscapes, eerie bass harmonica, and surprisingly massive
drum part, "Tom on the Boulevard" is an album standout that bridges the gap
between the group's pop and folk tendencies. The charming "Fred Rogers," an
account of a dream in which Karen road trips to meet the beloved television
host, feels like a natural extension of the Innocence Mission's personality
as they once again welcome listeners into their own neighborhood.
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P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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