[.ca] Befriended

very nice cd:
Although this cd from The Innocence Mission is not aggressive and masterfully produced as Glow it is very good in its own right. A much quieter cd than Glow- it is probably the most relaxing cd I own. A word of caution: do NOT play this cd while driving but DO play this cd if you want close your eyes and be completely relaxed for a half hour. Also, this cd sounds much better on very high end systems as the arrangements are so subtle that it takes a good stereo to really appreciate them. I recommend this cd to anyone looking for an interesting and unique sound as it is very quiet and refined but certainly not boring which is quite an accomplishment.

Simply beautiful:
Great music that won't bog you down, but will enlighten your spirit.

Goose Bumps!:
This music is so beautiful it will make you want to cry...and yet it isn't at all depressing. It's melancholy at worst, and positively uplifting at its best. The lead vocalist has this way of pulling notes quickly up from lower octaves in such a way as to produce goosebumps. I hadn't heard of this group before, I listened to a couple sample tracks because they were listed as an "If you like " " then you'll love the Innocence Mission..." I love that about Amazon, I constantly get turned on to groups I never would have been able to find 5 years ago. Discovering this jewel has been worth the wait.

Genteel Folk:
On Befriended, The Innocence Mission become the genteel group that those of us who adored their dreamy early work feared they might become. They were always the kindest of groups, relying on Karen Peris's thin, ethereal voice and Don Peris's wistful guitar. They were the American version of the Cocteau Twins - spacey yet accessible. Peris sang of simple family situations with clarity and concern. If she was precious, she didn't mask her pretensions behind an invented language. Befriended is calmer than usual. The death of her beloved mother didn't unmask demons in Peris, just reinforced a forthright decency that is a breath of fresh air. Like their early work, the folksier direction is as straightforward as can be expected. Peris continues to find generous edges in her stories of the everyday. A departing friend is cause for self-effacement in "Tomorrow on the Runway". She eulogizes her mother's loss with a plaintive "You were here, and I never knew you from the sun." On the crowning "When Mac Was Swimming", she treats the planning of a surprise party as the occasion for a stark rumination. "Nobody knows how they are loved," she tells the guest of honor, even when they are surrounded in celebration.

Befriending Spirit Itself:
With some artists, you just get lucky. I'm talking about those great albums that came across by coincidence or some lost good friend. It was a small act of grace that have me meet this wonderful music. The "Mission"s are a married couple and their best friend, all deeply Christian, writing and singing some gorgeous harmonies over touching folk ballads, many about being married and having children. Either you get the drift of how great this is or you may need to listen to it once, at which point, you'll be converted to their beauty.

• Tomorrow on the Runway
• When Mac Was Swimming
• I Never Knew You from the Sun
• Beautiful Change
• Martha Avenue Love Song
• One for Sorrow, Two for Joy
• No Storms Come
• Sweep Down Early
• Walking Around
• Look for Me as You Go By