The Innocence
Mission
Befriended
Badman (US)/Agenda (UK), 2003
A solitary boy oblivious to his impending surprise party, a lost loved one,
clouds transforming into reindeer, a pensive brother, an open runway where
anything is possible — Befriended, the latest offering by
Pennsylvania's The Innocence Mission, overflows with evocative stories. With the
least phrase, they effortlessly create worlds of grateful heartache and hard-won
joy. Spare yet fully realized arrangements of guitar, piano, and bass lovingly
bring the lyrics to life, infusing them with vibrant candor and warmth.
Opening with the wistful "Tomorrow On The Runway," singer Karen Peris confesses, "Oh I want to fly, fly forward into the light, / be alive, to come alive." Secret wishes spill into the still air, pulling the listener into the song's expectancy in a mere few bars. A growing confidence seeps into the subsequent songs, culminating in the declarative "Look For Me As You Go By," whose chiming guitars and resonant piano answers the plea of the initial track.
A sense of awakening spring pervades the album, as well as the pain of growth and the change that it necessitates. "I Never Knew You From The Sun" is a poignant elegy for a departed loved-one; a forthright admission of loss — spare in its honesty, but never plaintive. Amazingly enough, the striding, barely contained verve of "Beautiful Change" does not contradict the plain grief of the previous track. They are harmoniously paired, revealing how true gladness isn't a mockery of pain, but rather its possible fulfillment.
The shy confidence of "One For Sorrow, Two For Joy" proves the clarity of perception that's ours when we love. "Sweep Down Early" gamely flirts with a winning eagerness that never becomes impatient. In "Walking Around," she tells us, "Some boy I knew said, Hang on, stay gold, / before he left here for England." In two lines she evokes S. E. Hinton, Robert Frost, and their own debut album (is this possibly the brother in "Curious?").
The Innocence Mission's brilliant alchemy of word and softly exuberant music explores the moments of our existence that hover on the outskirts of articulate comprehension. Nothing is ever truly lost; we're made witnesses of a hope that defies sentimental definition. With graceful tenacity, Peris sings, "You know I've had enough of this trouble / following me high and low. Now it can go." Or as Emily Dickinson once wrote, "Faith slips — and laughs, and rallies." Hope is a decision as well as a gift. With this new work, The Innocence Mission reasserts the quiet strength inherent in all joy.
-Ana Maria Correa