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Now the Day Is Over |
RATING:
(5 logos is max rating) |
| 2004 - Badman Recording Co. - CD | |
Sometimes I feel so inadequate in my everyday surroundings. I have rarely, if ever, been the coolest person in the room. I’ve come to accept it, but it doesn’t make it less hard to swallow. Listening to Now the Day Is Over, a predominantly covers album and the latest release from The Innocence Mission, I feel just how tainted, how impure my overall being is not having experienced fatherhood yet. For better and for worse, in sickness and in health, partners Don and Karen Paris have been making music as a duo or group for a number of years. These hand-selected tunes are pieces that Karen has sung as lullabies to their children as infants. To have such an incredible life... to be able to wake up in the morning next to the person in life you couldn’t be more excited to share your bed with. To be able to transcend your everlasting love, everlasting bond with each other into an absolutely beautiful exhibit of (recorded) sounds. And throughout these awesome moments, still have the privilege to turn your head and see your offspring looking of utmost perfection – I wouldn’t be sure what I’d do if that happened to me tomorrow. The Innocence Mission has decided to pay homage to both their children and prolific songwriters of our past in the collection of thirteen songs. Composers’ names aren’t necessary here; you won’t remember them when you wake up tomorrow. The tunes are what are timeless: “Over The Rainbow,” “What A Wonderful World,” “Moon River,” “Edelweiss.” We all have heard the songs at some point in our lives, many of them not previously imagined in a lullaby setting. Yet, this trio (Mike Bitts fills the third spot) carefully fills in slumber in areas of otherwise steady-paced energy. Guitar, bass, piano and voice mingle comfortably, knowingly situating themselves next to one another and emitting a nurturing sensation that soothes the body and invites the mind to join. Gentle groups like the Sundays, Softies and Azure Ray have surely taken lessons from this serene outfit. What sets this album apart from previous would be a slightly smaller production in the overall sound. Although that may sound strange, it’s necessary considering the inspiration of the album. A good, well-tuned parent would know that minimal, reassuring, coo-like singing is what gets baby to calm down and feel a sleepy confidence. Now the Day Is Over significantly uses this concept throughout, providing a strumming-guitar-next-to-the-crib-feeling rather than an opened bedroom environment. The Innocence Mission can take a song like “It Is Well with My Soul,” an otherwise anthem-like hymn, and ever so delicately nestle it with a down comforter. If you have children, stop reading this review. Go check up on them, and when you take notice of that indescribable feeling you get being a Mom/Dad, imagine that captured on compact disc. |
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