www.studiomlive.com November 2004 REVIEW
Now The Day Is Over is a collection of
lullabies (and standards reinterpreted as lullabies) for
children. Few bands could pull this off and be consistent
with their spirit, but the Innocence Mission are not most
bands. The seed for the concept came when vocalist Karen
Peris heard Bono speak at a graduation commencement
ceremony. She was inspired by his words regarding about the
plight of orphaned children in South Africa.
The disc opens with the solitary muted piano of Stay Awake,
a track that sounds lifted from 1930s vinyl. Like many of
the tracks on Now The Day Is Over, Stay Awake seems trapped
in time, as if lifted from a simpler time and bravely placed
in the present as an act of hope. The tracks exude a grace,
a soothing and elemental cohesiveness that belies everything
we know about contemporary music.
Other wonders follow. Their versions of Over The Rainbow and
What A Wonderful World are at once sparse and lush with
emotion- gorgeous reinventions of tracks that seemed to have
nothing left to offer. But the highlight on this 13 track
collection, interestingly, is the original My Love Goes With
You. This one stood out as an ethereal gem, consistent with
the other tracks in delivery, but arresting in the purity of
its message.
Both of the instrumental offerings found on Now The Day Is
Over- Chopin’s Prelude In A and Beethoven’s Sonata No.8 are
moving in their simplicity and act as bridges across this
elemental landscape. Don Peris’ guitar work has always been
the ladle that pours the cider of Karen Peris’ voice, and
that has never been as true as it is here.
The Innocence Mission have never struck me as anything but
original- their distinct sound and delivery have always
defined them as one of a kind. Listening to Now The Day Is
Over conjured two other artists in my mind- Nick Drake and
Stina Nordenstam. Every singer-songwriter is getting
compared to Drake and Buckley these days, but it was more
the economy of the approach here, the willingness to let the
songs express themselves, that made that Drake connection
for me. And hearing Moon River, it struck me how similar
Karen Peris and Stina Nordenstam are- I’ve always thought of
them as wholly idiosyncratic voices, when in actuality their
haunting beauty comes from the same twine.
After their wonderful return to form on 2003’s Befriended,
it is great to have the Innocence Mission back so quickly,
and with something so special to offer. In addition to being
a gift, presumably for their own children, the band are also
donating a percentage to organizations aiding children in
need. In this day and age of cynicism, under a shroud of so
much global negativity and ideological polarity, it is
refreshing to so see a group so singularly minded, pure in
spirit and performance, with the grace and guts to deliver
on their convictions.
Over the years their music has shifted ever so gently- but
it is more of a smoothing of a stone from years of exposure
than a change. Innocence Mission tracks seem to arrive with
their own sepia-stained imagery, and this release is no
exception. In the music industry they are a true rarity, and
a band who have literally become an expression of their
name.
The Innocence
Mission- Now The Day Is Over (Badman)
review by
Joe del Tufo