jon foreman has put forth a series of acoustic masterpieces that belongs in everyone's collection. for me, this collection of ep's joins the likes of august and everything after (coutning crows), gold (ryan adams), abbey road (seriously?), and surfacing (sarah mclachlan).
each ep (fall, winter, spring, and summer) distinctly represents the mood of the season that bears its name. fall and winter embrace the deep melancholy while spring ushers in the hope of restoration. summer is not out yet, but since history is a good predictor of future, summer will be stellar. musically, the albums are heavily acoustic. percussion is minimal, and horns and the occasional harmonica paint the atmosphere. the combination is therapeutic. lyrically, they sympathize with the gauntlet of human emotions.
fall...
fall starts out looking for the cure for the pain. southbound train touches on nostalgia and the longing to belong. equally skilled is adapted directly from micah 7- hopelessness and misery; it's a confession.
winter...
winter starts with death (as winter does) in learning how to die. somebody's baby reminds us that we're all connected as neighbors even when we forget it. white as snow is a sincere confessional prayer taken from psalm 51. winter ends with desire for hope in the face of pain (i am still running).
spring...
spring is more joyful. blithesome with march. your love is strong is a mosaic of gospel encouragements centered around the lord's prayer. i'm not sure i've heard a more moving song this year. he definitely stole a page from sufjan stevens' book with baptize my mind. spring has a strange end- revenge accurately depicts its consuming misery.
2 comments:
i agree! is the summer one out yet?
we had practice a couple of days this week and worked on an arrangement of "white as snow" that might be my new favorite song to play. it's sounding pretty killer!
you gotta teach me how to play that one.
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