From Dark to Light: Winter to Spring

I am in agreement with Russ Breimeier, critic representing christianitytoday.com, when he tries to sum up Foreman’s music. I also usually “think of these EPs as the lo-fi, indie folk side of Jon Foreman, along the lines of Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine. Acoustic guitar drives most of the self-produced tracks (executive-produced by Foreman's mentor Charlie Peacock), with occasional strings, horns, woodwinds, harmonica, sparse percussion, and more thrown in for color and variation. In contrast to Switchfoot's radio-friendly pop/rock, this music is quiet and contemplative, requiring deeper engagement and more active listening to fully appreciate.” The mood is indeed deeper and requires active listening to fully appreciate lyrics that are “relatable, honest, and at times, gut-wrenchingly broken, to the point where parts of Fall and Winter can seem downright depressing.

Breimeier points out something that I did not analyze fully: “why the order of these EPs is so important.” In conversation, I had previously commented on the tempo and mood differences found between “Fall” and “Winter.” Breimeier explains how the track from “Fall” are created to “play their part in the overall theme, which becomes clearer from the Ecclesiastes-inspired "Lord, Save Me from Myself": "This world is where I breathe/Let it never be called home." Foreman's strongest composition is "Equally Skilled," which bleakly addresses humanity's capacity for good and evil, yet the melody almost seems more hopeful when it changes keys for the verse about Jesus helping us overcome our weakness. It's perfectly paced and a brilliant message overall, drawing on the text of Micah 7: "I will be patient as the Lord punishes me for the wrongs I've done against Him/After that He'll take my case, bringing me to light and to justice for all I have suffered." He then clarifies that “Winter goes further as the season often associated with death. "Learning How to Die" wrestles with how we're not meant for life on this earth: ‘All along I thought I was learning how to take/How to bend not how to break/How to live not how to cry/But really I've been learning how to die.’…concluding Winter is "In Love," an Eastern sounding lament about love permeating all things, even in the hard times.”

Breimeir tastefully concludes his review by saying “the songs represented here seem rather sad in tone, remember that lamentations are prevalent throughout the Old Testament. Perhaps the best part about Fall and Winter is that we can look ahead with hope and joy to Spring and Summer, and all that it's likely to represent.”

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2008/fallandwinter.html