Switchfoot: Nothing Is Sound
Well, my reviewing has certainly made a wide arc since I last wrote about Switchfoot, but much has changed for them too! Now, worldwide acceptance meets the band as they tour with their new album, Nothing is Sound. …Even if you hated them before, this album provides a new spin on what they have to say and how they sound. And for those who’ve been anticipating this album for months, this album is for real.
Kicking off the album is “Lonely Nation,� as Foreman is “singing without tongues, screaming without lungs,� as a more artful verse cannot be found. Those two phrases present impossibilities or at least the artistic frustration of someone who spends most of his life expressing himself vocally. The song describes ‘we’ as young, separate yet one, as the target market, as the corporate target, as slaves of what we want, and as numb and amused. We’re not dealing with an overly optimistic sound here, are we? No, instead Switchfoot is drawing attention to the reality that they see in the world they exist in, and the realities appear grim.
At least in “Stars,� Foreman sees the light (pun intended.) He does sing of questions within himself as wonders whether he caused the problems, and sees the same distress in others he meets. “But when I look at the stars I see someone else,� he sings, “when I look at the stars I feel like myself.� He further reflects on the “meaning of a resistance of a hope beyond my own/And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home.� There is hope, Foreman seems to say, but we can’t grow comfortable with the status quo to achieve that hope.
In “The Shadow Proves the Sunshine,� Foreman sings that his crooked soul wants to stay straight, but allows for his shadows to show that the sunshine is real. Mixed in with the hopelessness that reoccurs throughout, there is the sense that Switchfoot, like Paul, believes God can be shown even more fully through his own weaknesses. And I tend to agree.
“Easier than Love� sings out against using sex for everything it’s not, before Foreman returns to the Ecclesiastes-intoned “The Blues� (first presented in “Happy is aa Yuppie Word.�) He sings for all those who are downtrodden and asks if there is anything worth saving. Foreman wants to find the good in the everyday, the struggle of life, to be able to see that which is hopeful. He continues this strain in “The Setting Sun,� where his hope lies underneath all the pain, and only when the weak can be strong will the kingdom truly come. That’s pretty well tied to the teaching of Jesus Christ, and His understanding of the last becoming first.
“Golden� speaks love and peace to a worn-out woman (is God the speaker?), before “The Fatal Wound� and “We are Tonight� close out the album with living fully and hoping hard. I will argue, as I did over “Dare You to Move,� that the first could be about Jesus. I can see this song as His words looking down on those around as He hung on the cross, with “We Are One Tonight� as the anthem for all who follow Him, longing to upend the status quo and letting the kingdom come.
Switchfoot rocks a bit harder, and Foreman sounds a bit more raw, less polished in this latest album. But I think the combination brings Switchfoot’s message across in a more thorough way. Maybe these songs won’t become worship songs at the contemporary services across America, but the agenda to bring the kingdom to earth is one that is full of hope for everyone. I believe that’s a message worth hearing.
Kicking off the album is “Lonely Nation,� as Foreman is “singing without tongues, screaming without lungs,� as a more artful verse cannot be found. Those two phrases present impossibilities or at least the artistic frustration of someone who spends most of his life expressing himself vocally. The song describes ‘we’ as young, separate yet one, as the target market, as the corporate target, as slaves of what we want, and as numb and amused. We’re not dealing with an overly optimistic sound here, are we? No, instead Switchfoot is drawing attention to the reality that they see in the world they exist in, and the realities appear grim.
At least in “Stars,� Foreman sees the light (pun intended.) He does sing of questions within himself as wonders whether he caused the problems, and sees the same distress in others he meets. “But when I look at the stars I see someone else,� he sings, “when I look at the stars I feel like myself.� He further reflects on the “meaning of a resistance of a hope beyond my own/And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home.� There is hope, Foreman seems to say, but we can’t grow comfortable with the status quo to achieve that hope.
In “The Shadow Proves the Sunshine,� Foreman sings that his crooked soul wants to stay straight, but allows for his shadows to show that the sunshine is real. Mixed in with the hopelessness that reoccurs throughout, there is the sense that Switchfoot, like Paul, believes God can be shown even more fully through his own weaknesses. And I tend to agree.
“Easier than Love� sings out against using sex for everything it’s not, before Foreman returns to the Ecclesiastes-intoned “The Blues� (first presented in “Happy is aa Yuppie Word.�) He sings for all those who are downtrodden and asks if there is anything worth saving. Foreman wants to find the good in the everyday, the struggle of life, to be able to see that which is hopeful. He continues this strain in “The Setting Sun,� where his hope lies underneath all the pain, and only when the weak can be strong will the kingdom truly come. That’s pretty well tied to the teaching of Jesus Christ, and His understanding of the last becoming first.
“Golden� speaks love and peace to a worn-out woman (is God the speaker?), before “The Fatal Wound� and “We are Tonight� close out the album with living fully and hoping hard. I will argue, as I did over “Dare You to Move,� that the first could be about Jesus. I can see this song as His words looking down on those around as He hung on the cross, with “We Are One Tonight� as the anthem for all who follow Him, longing to upend the status quo and letting the kingdom come.
Switchfoot rocks a bit harder, and Foreman sounds a bit more raw, less polished in this latest album. But I think the combination brings Switchfoot’s message across in a more thorough way. Maybe these songs won’t become worship songs at the contemporary services across America, but the agenda to bring the kingdom to earth is one that is full of hope for everyone. I believe that’s a message worth hearing.
1 Comments:
I just saw Switchfoot last night in Norfolk, VA., and their message just resonates more strongly for me. What would it look like if the "kingdom" came down? How would our individual perspectives change and what ripple effect might that have in our communities? I am continually amazed by how Jon Foreman and his crew 'lead worship' from the stage, and defer attention from themselves to "the Other." Nothing is Sound...except for the Gospel.
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