From the golden-brown sunlight of fall to the harsh white snow of winter. Yes, here we are, embarking on the second leg of Jon Foreman's four-part journey. (If it helps, read my review of Fall, the first EP in the collection here: http://www.thirdmile.com/tabId/234/itemId/109/Review--Fall-Jon-Foreman.aspx)With winter being the somber, sorrowful season that it is, there is a question begging to be asked: can Jon Foreman produce the wonderful consistency shown in Fall while reflecting this stage of his personal journey effectively?
Track Listing:
- Learning How To Die
- Behind Your Eyes
- Somebody's Baby
- White As Snow
- I Am Still Running
- In Love
Sequels generally never fare as well as their predecessors. One only has to take a look at the movie industry for evidence: with the exception of The Dark Knight and possibly Shrek 2, most sequels were criticized as (relative) flops (Quantum of Solace, Night at the Museum 2). The 5/5 rating I gave Fall was based on it possessing a remarkable level of consistency while managing to master the acoustic style. Also, it embodied the season extremely well; I could almost see the leaves crunching under my feet as I viewed the dying sun. Winter starts off in fairly melancholy fashion, the song title of "Learning How To Die" giving off a clue to its foreboding nature. Foreman's acoustic guitar sounds resigned, like a man who knows he's about to be fired. The woodwind instrument (can't pick out what it is) adds deep resonating tones full of experience and indicates a lifetime of highs and lows. The slow journey from the cradle to the grave is one which most of us do not want to face, but Foreman manages to be subtle enough in commenting on the inevitability of the end. The next track sounds (at least at the beginning) slightly out of place on a generally melancholy album, an upbeat rhythm and guitar plucking underpinning Foreman's romantic musings. This, however, sets up a frighteningly beautiful contrast with what is undoubtedly the best song on this EP, "Somebody's Baby". A starkly lonely guitar provides the background to Foreman's toughened and weathered voice as he sings about a female drug addict. "She's somebody's baby, somebody's baby girl…" The lost, the destitute and the poor are often overlooked in this capitalist society of ours, and it is refreshing to hear someone attempt to raise awareness for the many social injustices occurring in the world. The violin and strings merely create more poignancy to the track; I have no doubt some would be moved to tears by it. The next few tracks, good as they are, do not quite live up to the first section of the album. "White As Snow" fits the winter theme well, but sounds slightly forced as a worship track. The instrumentation is satisfactory, except for the xylophonic percussion; it doesn't "click" well with the guitar and the strings. Having said that, the track does get better as it progresses, the muffled drum kit adding to the intensity and subsequent drop. "I Am Still Running"
optimistically hopes for a way out, and approaches a more groove-oriented style with hand claps. The end is slightly abstract with the oriental influence on the instrumentation of In Love. This track should polarize opinion; IMO, its intro was a bit draggy and the lyrics repeated themselves too much. Nevertheless, it made me think, and I guess that was Foreman's goal all along.
The lyrics in Winter are, as per usual, alarmingly contemplative. Given that the season is one of disconsolation, they suitably fit the theme. As with Fall, this EP possesses some of the more straightforward Jon Foreman tracks. "White As Snow"
employs references from Psalm 51 as a prayerful worship track, while "Learning How To Die" does not deviate much from its title's insinuations. As I said previously, Somebody's Baby is some of the most potent social commentary I have heard in a while, even more so than Switchfoot's work in Nothing Is Sound, Oh! Gravity and The Beautiful Letdown. It stirred depressing emotions in me, but then again I suppose that is one of the features of winter. Foreman has augmented the seasonal theme as well as he did in Fall, at least with his lyrics.
If Fall was bemoaning the end of summer and the progressive shortening of days, Winter is the soft resignation that the dark, cloudy days are here to stay for at least a few more months. Yet among the ashes there are traces of optimism and the saving grace of God; faith is painted as what can save us from the fate of the girl in "Somebody's Baby". More spiritual, certainly, but it doesn't detract from the overall atmosphere. Winter doesn't live up to Fall in terms of sheer consistency (there are more lows) but certainly possesses its own diamonds in the rough. It will be interesting to see what else Foreman can do in Spring and Summer, and whether he can reproduce the seasonal personifications done so well in these albums.
Rating: 4/5
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