Befriended, the latest album from Lancaster, Pa.'s Innocence Mission, reminds the listener that beauty and sadness can combine to result in gorgeous brilliance.
Lead singer and primary songwriter Karen Peris sings her atmospheric songs as if she is floating in a dream. It's an ethereal sound that is accompanied by the atmospheric guitar stylings of husband Don Peris and the subtle acoustic and electric bass of Mike Bitts.
It was back in 1989, while walking down a street in Taos, N.M., I noticed a poster in a record store window announcing the release of a debut album by this new band, the Innocence Mission. Instantly intrigued by the name and album art alone, I sought out this album and was instantly hooked on their sound.
Back then, they were an artsy folk-pop group where drums were present, not unlike 10,000 Maniacs and the Sundays, two airy and literate folk-pop bands that were all over college radio in the late 80s and early 90s. By 1991, when Umbrella was released, the Innocence Mission proved themselves to be a serious alternative to the mindless rock and pop filling the airwaves at that time. Just listen to "And Hiding Away" from that album and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Over time, however, IM became quieter and more introspective. This is partly due to the 1998 departure of longtime drummer Steve Brown. Their more intimate sound became apparent after the release of their underrated 1999 album, Birds of My Neighborhood.
With Befriended, released by the Badman Recording Co., the songs float on the aural currents of hidden streams flowing somewhere between heaven and earth. Listening to the bittersweet "When Mac Was Swimming" is like looking into a faded photograph. Many of their songs are like that. Even their album art uses old photographs from another time and place.
"Beautiful Change," with its airy guitar and delicate tambourine frame Karen Peris's humble and kind voice. You can tell she loves what she does.
"Music is one of those gifts God gave to people to help them learn about how we're all connected," Karen Peris is quoted as saying. This is clearly the case.
Peris's voice and the accompanying music can be quite moving at times. On "Walking Around," she sings of a girl longing for an English boy she knew for a brief time. Don Peris sings backup on this lilting song.
"Rain happens into my room at night/when there is so much time to miss you/Beautiful changes I've seen sometimes/the clouds changing into reindeer and flying to places clear of sorrow."
The Peris's Christian faith is clearly evident on many of the songs, even though it's not overt. Comparisons to Over the Rhine or the Ocean Blue could be made in this regard.
On "No Storms Come," the lyrics have been adapted from the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "Heaven-Haven (A Nun Takes the Veil)." Peris plays piano on this track.
Natural imagery plays a role in many of the Innocence Mission's songs, an aspect of their music which I find immensely appealing.
The springtime of Easter, summer swimming in the pools, winter afternoons, leaf-bright Friday drives and gray Pennsylvania skies all evoke times and places, thoughts and memories. This is the Innocence Mission's bread and butter, and on Befriended there is an ample supply.
Thoughtful people who like to watch autumn leaves blowing in the wind or listening to a gentle rainfall will appreciate their sound and poetic lyrics. I know I do.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Jeffrey OverstreetBefriended is the latest in the Innocence Mission's series of albums that dwell in a holy sort of hush, focusing on fragile matters of the heart, spiritual longing, and intimate memories. That does not mean they have become predictable. Don and Karen Peris offer a clearly-defined style, yes, but within those parameters, you will never encounter the same display of light and beauty twice. They…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Jeff Elbel"Oh be the music in my head, the air around my bed, oh be my rest, replace the small disgraces of the times and places that I never really left." This simple poetry from "Tomorrow on the Runway" speaks volumes about the quiet, understated music of Pennsylvania's Innocence Mission. Along with multi-instrumentalist husband Don Peris and bassist Mike Bitts, Karen Peris spins a net of tenderness to…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Trae CadenheadMuch like the picture on the cover of Befriended, The Innocence Mission's new album is akin to someone you love whispering sweetly in your ear. The music is so soft and so beautiful that sometimes it almost seems like a whisper. It reminds me of the story in the Bible when God appeared to Elisha, not in the might wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in a gentle whisper. It is in a moment of…Opus 2003Reviewed by Chris BrownThank God. After years of having a major label try to groom them to be a pop act and then bouncing from one small imprint to the next after their major label home went under, Pennsylvania's Innocence Mission have finally landed with a company that understands what they're all about. If there has ever been a better band/label match than The Innocence Mission and Badman, I don't know what it is.…Similar sounding releases
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