Label: Korda Records
Released: October 16, 2015
There is something gentle and optimistic about the Innocence Misson’s Hello I Feel the Same that goes beyond the name and title and is not the entire picture. Finger picking over a quiet drone in “Blue and Yellow” support Karen Peris’ almost Nico-esque vocals. There is even some of the emptiness that comes with such vocals, but it rises up rather than wallowing in seediness and that is a substantial difference. The loose percussion of “Fred Rogers” has the subtle swing of folk-jazz like a subdued “Moondance.” The Innocence Mission’s ability to bring the most delicate elements of Simon and Garfunkel into their songs pervades the album, but is most prevalent on “Spring Is Written on Your Door.” But is really is the title track that defines the album. It has all of the sparse, airy arrangements with perhaps the catchiest undercurrent of a record that is largely about undercurrents. It has a unifying optimism, not so much happy as hopeful and hope is so much deeper than the transience of happiness.