Innocence Found

NY Daily News / Oct. 28, 2001

Singer Karen Peris has an incandescent instrument; her voice flickers and glows with a mystical warmth. Though high, sheer, and innocent as Art Garfunkel's falsetto, Peris' voice also projects enough maternal assurance to keep it grounded.

Over the last 12 years, Peris has fronted four previous albums with the innocence mission. The quartet met in Catholic high school and they've retained that religious sense of reverence ever since.

The new album collects mainly material leftover from the last five years, which explains why the songs don't have quite the melodic assurance of the group's finest, 1999's "Birds of My Neighborhood." If you've never bought an innocence mission record, get that one first. For those already enchanted, this one has its charms. As always, Peris' elliptical lyrics find great feeling in the ordinary scenes and tasks of the day. And her ascetic, acoustic-based tunes shine. You won't find a group with a wiser sense of wonder.

Jim Farber