By Jacob Sahms
This is my third Switchfoot review for Hollywood Jesus, and my admiration for the band continues to grow. For those who haven’t heard about the band (because at this point, everyone has heard the band--in a restaurant, a doctor’s office or in their car), the San Diego rockers include brothers Jon and Tim Foreman, drummer Chad Butler, keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas and latest addition, guitarist Drew Shirley. Having gained momentum through the soundtrack of the Mandy Moore headlined A Walk to Remember, a previous album A Beautiful Letdown went double-platinum, while the live DVD of their concert went platinum. Now, the follow-up to Nothing Is Sound, Oh Gravity! continues the string of Foreman-influenced lyrical masterpieces, complete with “thinking person’s” lyrics.
With musical influences like U2, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Dave Grohl, it’s no surprise that Foreman sees Soren Kierkegaard, Augustine of Hippo, T. S. Eliot and now, Isaac Newton and his law of gravity. The title track of the album riffs on opposites that cause us to question meaning and purpose, and rocks like any top-40 single should. While sure to be a great radio hit, it’s got nothing on “American Dream.” Here, Foreman challenges (as he has in previous albums) the materialistic society that America can sometimes be: “when success is equated with excess/the ambition for excess wrecks us/as top of the mind becomes the bottom line.” Which rings true based on Switchfoot’s strong ties to the ONE campaign, Invisible Children, To Write Love On Her Arms, and more.
Other songs, like “Dirty Second Hands” are sure to make news, and “Awakening” makes for a kicking rock chorus, but songs hidden in the middle wedge of the album caught my attention. “Everyone I know/needs love like drugs,” Foreman belts out in “Amateur Lovers,” remarking that, “we’ve all got a disease/deficiency of love.” This lack of love, lack of meaning, lack of love references past themes from Learning To Breathe and The Beautiful Letdown. Social activism found its place in Nothing Is Sound, but in Oh, Gravity! Foreman unleashes a few of his own inner struggles.
“Yesterdays” shows the cooperation of the Foreman brothers, and provides one of the most hopeful ‘remembrances’ I’ve heard put to music. Remembering a dead friend, it calls to mind the happiness they shared, the importance of their friendship, and the grief that the living feel for the dead. Describing grief in terms of floating on the floor of the ocean, the Foreman brothers also provide hope by looking through that relationship toward what they believe lies beyond. “I woke from a dream last night/I dreamt that you were by my side,” sings Jon, “reminding me that I still had life/in me.” That life, from a bunch of Christian guys in a band (not to be confused with a Christian band), means living what you have for the present good of those around you, and the life you can eternally live with God. Pretty heady stuff for a bunch of ‘goofy-footed surfers.’
And finally, “Faust, Midas and Myself” was the first song to catch my ear on my first listen. While it might be the culmination of all the other musical influences, but I couldn’t help hear Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams.” Foreman’s three characters, Faust, King Midas and lastly, himself provide the voices of perspective for his listeners. The old man tempts, “You could have your pick/of pretty things/you could have it all/everything at once,” but also warns, “you’ve one life left to lead.” Midas ‘has it all’ but wants none of it because it’s drowned in gold (too much of a good thing.) Finally, Foreman recognizes from the lives of the other two what he might miss out on and longs to embrace “what was once routine [as] now the perfect joy.” An anthem to move forward, to find meaning in life, this three-part story lays out the subtlety of Foreman’s voice, simple and yet, telling. [“Burn Out Bright” and “4:12” rock a bit harder, but hit the same lyrical notes.]
The Foremans and their sweet-sounding band will always have my musical admiration, but their efforts in the world of music outside of the albums also makes my smile. There’s Tim speaking out against copy protection, explaining to fans how to get around the software; and there’s the standard Switchfoot policy that charges venues ¼ of what the average band charges, meaning you the audience gets in cheaper. If those things aren’t enough to win you over, I’ll leave you with these words of Jon’s excerpted from the Switchfoot website: “I have a deep respect for everyone who comes every night. We have always tried to break down the wall between the stage and the audience. I feel like I’ve done my job if we leave the stage while everyone in the club is still singing. You see, I want to sing a song that will continue long after we’re gone. Thanks for singing along. Thanks for making these songs your own.”
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