Switchfoot vocalist and principal songwriter Jon Foreman spends much of his musical life as part of a band that typically features two or even three electric guitars buzzing away over heavy rhythms. There\u2019s the occasional ballad, but — for a songwriter who specializes in lyrics designed to make you think — surprisingly little in the way of overt musical introspection.<\/p>\n
This EP, his solo debut and the first of four planned six-song sets on a seasonal theme, gives Foreman his first real chance to turn the volume all the way down and ponder the questions at the core of his art — what does it mean to be human, and how can we navigate the modern world with heart and soul and integrity intact — in a quieter, more intimate setting.<\/p>\n
The results are six hymns to the pain of existence, each in its own way searching for grace and peace, each sung in the slightly ragged voice of a man struggling through faith and doubt and loneliness and connection. Struggling and, more often than not, prevailing. Fall<\/i> is difficult and real and somber and still ultimately hopeful\u2026 kind of like life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cure For Pain\u201d is one of the most beautiful compositions of Foreman\u2019s career, a spare, haunting rumination on how hard it can be to simply make it through a life that offers abundant reasons to retreat from it. Gentle trumpet accents add warmth to his strummed melody as a tambourine chimes a thoughtful cadence underneath. The lyric explores the depths of human pain (\u201cI\u2019ve spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away \/ But the water keeps on fallin\u2019 from my eyes\u201d) before concluding, with no little courage, that \u201cit would be a lie to run away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up, \u201cSouthbound Train\u201d offers a glimpse of the loneliness of life on the road, with cello and Foreman\u2019s delicate picking giving the song a texture that finds the nexus between alt-country and classical. Foreman\u2019s terrific fast-picked melody line anchors the contrarily earthy \u201cLord Save Me From Myself,\u201d which adds gospel-flavored organ to the mix and punches up the choruses with drums. \u201cMine eyes have seen the glory \/ Of this hollow modern shell\u201d he sings in another of his perceptive and potent anti-materialist rants.<\/p>\n
An almost island feels creeps into the melody of the acoustic guitar and sax (or is that clarinet?) duet \u201cThe Moon Is A Magnet,\u201d about how we\u2019ve turned love into an addiction rather than a joy. After all, in this modern world \u201cWhat are we if we\u2019re not in love?\u201d Closer \u201cMy Love Goes Free\u201d is a gorgeous, deceptively simple piano ballad that again has a rather hymn-like feel, as Foreman hears something in a lover\u2019s voice on the phone that tells him it\u2019s time to let her go, for both of their sakes.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t call this a perfect set. While \u201cEqually Skilled,\u201d derived from a bible verse (Micah 7), has a strong rolling melody, nicely stacked harmonies, and a complex, provocative message, it also feels rather pedantic and overlong, qualities which rarely show up elsewhere in Foreman\u2019s songbook.<\/p>\n
But then, Jon Foreman would likely be the first to point out that perfection is unattainable and all we can do is the best we\u2019re able to with the gifts we\u2019re given. He does wonderfully with his gifts here, and leaves fans in eager anticipation of the trio of EPs set to follow this rich, moving solo debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8114],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40659","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jon-foreman","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40659"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}