The Innocence Mission - Birds of My Neighborhood

April 2006 UPDATE: The new re-mastered version of The Innocence Mission's Birds of My Neighborhood lets this masterful recording expand to fill a room, resonating in hardwood floors, giving the listener the freedom to move about in the spaces between Don Peris's exquisite guitar stylings and the fragile beauty of Karen Peris's vocals. It's the next best thing to having them visit you personally in your living room and play you a song... a dream I haven't given up on yet. I know, it sounds funny to dream of having one of your favorite bands visit your home, but hey... if music as glorious as The Innocence Mission's can exist and find audiences amid the clamor and buzz, then I'm inclined to believe in miracles.

These songs are as fresh and beautiful as the day they were recorded, more than five years ago. While Don and Karen have moved on from those days of deep darkness in which they crafted such palpable sounds of sadness and hope, their work continues to give voice to the wounds and wishes of people everywhere today. And rather than merely wallowing in angst, these songs are journeys that move us from a place of grief to a place of gratitude and grace.

What follows seems, to me, like a landmark review in my deep archives: It’s my original review of Birds of My Neighborhoos, which was originally published at The Phantom Tollbooth in September 1999, just before I turned 29. When I read it, I can sense that I was challenging myself to grow, to write something that would stand up alongside the work of my favorite music reviewers at the time. I still had a lot to learn, but this feels like a moment when