Befriended
is the innocence mission's seventh full-length album in its 17 year
career, and probably it's best. It's marked by slow, deliberate cadences
delivered by gently strummed acoustic guitars, lightly plucked piano
keys, and waves of tremolo that shimmer like summer blacktop.
Then
there is singer Karen Peris' distinctive warble, a voice with obvious similarities
to Natalie Merchant and the Sundays Harriet Wheeler, but given a
personal touch on the strength of lyrics that essay the charm of the
everyday.
One can
almost imagine the quaint rhythm of life for her and guitarist/husband
Don Peris in Lancaster, Pennsylvania: enjoying a "leaf-bright
Friday drive," staring up at the sky to see vistas "where pink
and green arrive" and "clouds change into reindeer," or
mourning the loss of a loved one every time you put your hands inside
your coat pockets. What may at first seem fragile becomes, instead, a
journey toward a rendezvous with grace.
- Corey
deBrowa