Jon Foreman continues to send messages of hope, love, and redemption.
Foreman has always done a great job at picking people to feature on his songs. Remember his amazing duet with Mandy Moore? This time, on “Side by Side,” Foreman invited Madison Cunningham to be featured.
Cunningham and Foreman’s voices compliment one another so well. This one is definitely down the lane of Foreman’s core sound as a solo artist. This song brings happiness to my soul and is what the world desperately needs right now.
This song is much more stripped down than the previous tracks. I think this has got to be one of my overall favorite pieces. I look forward to hearing more from Foreman and Cunningham.
Foreman calls in another friend for “A Place Called Earth”: Lauren Daigle. This song has kindred vibes with the opening moments of the first track, “An Ocean Beyond the Sea.”
However, this song stays much more mellow. Foreman seems to bring his voice to new levels. Daigle joins in on the second verse and she does a fantastic job continuing from where Foreman left off. Daigle’s timbre is unique and hearing it play off Foreman’s tone is just the most wonderful thing.
The song picks up as we go further. Foreman lets Daigle shine when he moves to a harmony line, and it makes my ears very happy. This song is an absolute masterpiece!
“Red and Gold” follows. This song gives me “Learning to Breathe” vibes. Foreman really utilizes his words well to paint a picture. It becomes clear that he’s using his platform to give hope. He’s telling the listener to “hold your faith” and that we are “on our way home.”
Foreman really does a great job of recalling vintage Switchfoot sounds and merging them with his solo sound we’ve come to love. Foreman takes a guitar solo, and it plays out masterfully as the strings kick in at the bridge.
I cannot stress this enough: Foreman’s voice is being showcased like never before on this record. He does a great job of making sure every note he hits sounds incredible and that his voice is accompanied by just as beautiful music.
“Jesus I Have My Doubts” strips down again to a simple chord progression to kick off the song. In the transition from the first verse to the chorus, Foreman adds some beautiful strings. Again, he’s bringing previous styles into this record.
Foreman spends a majority of the song in his lower register, which is a nice choice that still allows him to showcase his vocal range. The song comes to a big climax and ends on a beautiful note.
From having doubts to giving thanks, Foreman follows up with “Thanks Be To God.” It feels like we’ve really gotten to the mellow portion of the album. Foreman also spends a good part of this song in his lower register.
The song is really open, with mainly guitar and percussion. He builds up the instrumentation as the chorus plays out. The bridge of the song has a nice mixture of wind instruments and the guitar he uses throughout the entire song.
