ARTIST: The Innocence Mission
TITLE: We Walked In Song
LABEL: Badman Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 180kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 38m total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-03-13
RIP DATE: 2007-03-07
Track List
----------
1. Brotherhood Of Man 3:28
2. Happy Birthday 3:32
3. Love That Boy 3:37
4. Into Brookly, Early In The 2:56
Morning
5. Lake Shore Drive 4:44
6. Song For Tom 3:14
7. Since I Still Tell You My Every 2:42
Day
8. A Wave Is Rolling 3:21
9. Colors Of The World 3:25
10. Over The Moon 4:16
11. My Sisters Return From Ireland 2:45
Release Notes:
If today, we still observed the beliefs and customs of cultures long past, who
buried with their dead, articles from this earthly life to be taken into the
after-life, then I would wish to be buried alongside my rotting corpse, the
music of The Innocence Mission. I presume that anyone who collects music to any
degree has a select set of recordings that never seem to go stale on them, that
they can always turn to time and again. For me, it is The Innocence Mission.
Someone on youtube posted this great comment that is a model of economy and
conciseness: ôKaren PerisÆs voice is simply lovely. ItÆs glorious. Warm, sad,
poignant. The songs by this band are beautifully etched in all respectsûlyrics,
musicianship, atmospherics. Simply superb. Their first album is my favorite, but
I recommend each album unreservedly.ö
Their self-titled first album, for me though, is their least best. Now
out-of-print, it is brilliant for the most part though a bit rough around the
edges and heavily inspired by the credible trailing edge of the 80Æs new wave
sound. UMBRELLA, their second album is probably my favorite, also out-of-print.
What a shame it is that the lords of industry who sit on the thrones of
corporate power would, without a second thought, let music die like that, to
fade out of existence. If they had any sense of human decency, they would set
free the rights to music that they have abandoned and are someoneÆs lifeblood.
But that would be asking too much of an industry to be decent to countless
musicians discarded like so many spent cigarettes flicked to the pavement and
ground underfoot.
It is on the album GLOW where they most closely cross paths with The Sundays,
beautifully bright as yellow. I find the quality of Karen PerisÆs voice at its
best on SMALL PLANES, flying like a flag. With BIRDS OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD, is
their contribution to folkish music as only they could give, a sudden joy thatÆs
like a fish, a moving light. BEFRIENDED, I would consider as their most moving
work, dive clear into the day.
A portion of the proceeds from NOW THE DAY IS OVER, a collection of mainly
covers they sing as lullabies to their children, is given to charity; and all of
the proceeds from CHRIST IS MY HOPE, a self-released recording of mostly
traditional religious songs that have been passed down through the centuries, is
also given to charity. Although their unassuming faith figure prominently in
some of their songs, it would be a mistake to call them a ôChristian rockö band,
if you are one who considers such bands merely jackals in cahoots with the
unmitigated Left Behind charlatans who prey on peopleÆs faith to line their
pockets. It is curious that, in one of her songs, she would sing, ôBut there are
no fires of hell / There is only Mercyö.
So as someone who holds The Innocence Mission in such high esteem, IÆve been
awaiting their new album with such high hopes, (and selfishly) with a bit of
fear of being let down. How silly of me. WE WALKED IN SONG is a glorious return
and brings some of the most personal songs to be heard from Karen Peris, that
interminably shy person who wished for a life that connects with so many lives
by telling of her every days in song. It never ceases to amaze me how she can
pluck the melodies out of the air to entwine with her words in such an endearing
way. This is their most languidly warm recording that washes over you as a
gentle wave. Like a welcome summer rain that comes after a long drought and you
wish to go out and be drenched.
Dylan Magierek from their label, Badman Recording Co., says that these songs
were written after the passing of her father. But when she sings about him,
there isnÆt that sense of being utterly lost as when she sang about her mother
in BEFRIENDED. How is one to relate to someone who is gone? Well, she sings
beautifully of it here; and on a song like ôLake Shore Driveö it becomes almost
like a mantra to lose your self awareness in a moment of bliss. When she sings
of her children on ôLove That Boyö and ôHappy Birthdayö, it is immensely
touching to behold and you realize how she can place you in the center of her
heart and let you peer through its windows. Just as there may be a movie that
moves you so much that it becomes more than just a movie; or a book that speaks
to you in such a way that it is more than just a book; so too, as with WE WALKED
IN SONG, their music have become more than just songs.
Should you be so fortunate as to be on your way to living a rich and full life
and all it entails, to see the births of your childrenà to experience the death
of your parentsà perhaps there will be a point you reach where you come to
accept thatà life is as it should beà as it always has been, deeply deeply
bittersweet. And as age wears away the composure of your granite face, the songs
here tell us not to pointlessly rage, rage against the dying of the light, but
to bask in the warmth that can be found in the days that are given to the point
that your heart would burst from joy and not be crushed by the chasm of despair.
What a peaceful sound, which simply is beyond words.