Switchfoot - "The Beautiful Letdown"
Year: 2003
Label: Columbia / Red Ink
Favorite songs: Meant to Live, Ammunition, Dare You To Move, This Is Your Life, Redemption, Gone
Lyric sample: "Gone like Frank Sinatra / Like Elvis and his mom / Like Al Pacino's cash / Nothing lasts in this life / My highschool dreams are gone / My childhood sweets are gone / Life is a day that doesn't last for long"
Whenever your favorite band releases a new record, it's always an event. It's like going to a carnival, only instead of funnel cakes, grease and body odor, it smells that crisp, slightly musty new CD smell. And instead of spinning around in circles until you hurl, the compact disc does all the spinning for you (unless you happen to have a swivel chair and enjoy abusing it) and you just kick back and take in some new tunes. Switchfoot's fourth studio record was an event. It was their first on a major mainstream label, so fans got to hear how they might sound with an additional band member and a lot of digital polishing. The truth is I've always thought of Switchfoot as a fairly earthy garage-ish group with a good bit of raw energy, so while Letdown is anything but hard to listen to, it doesn't do rock enthusiasts any favors by taking the edge off. In fact that could have easily been the end of their appeal - but fortunately Switchfoot has always been a poppy band with ample time spent in quiet reflection through their popular ballads, so the sense of atmosphere here allows those moments to thicken. Even more fortunately, they are still writing great songs, and it's hard to kill a great song. If you're interested in killing great songs, watch "Across the Universe" and you'll find plenty of examples. However, this isn't about that.
Speaking of the atmosphere, the whole record is drenched in it. The addition of keyboardist Jerome Fontamillis to the SF lineup (he had previously been seen playing live with them) provided them more opportunities for noise - beeps and bloops, swirls and swells, the kind of thing that seems to help add sonic depth to existing song structures. Jon Foreman's versatile and recognizable vocal has never sounded better, clearer, or stronger. He starts off in "Meant to Live" making some aggressive expressions we've never heard from him before, assimilating them effortlessly into his sound. With this new-found confidence, he goes on to add some similar punctuation to their re-recording of "Dare You To Move" from Learning to Breathe. Understanding that they were reaching a lot of new listeners with their expanded influence, they wanted to make sure one of their best songs received airplay - understandable. I think some of the new embellishments actually helped the song, though it's difficult to change something so well-loved without messing some things up as well. I'm also not sure that having it appear at number 5 on the disc works the way it should.
What does work is the bombastic opener, "Meant to Live." Easily the heaviest Switchfoot song up to that point, "Meant to Live" is a rollicking, soaring radio rocker with plenty of distorted electric guitar. The main riff has probably at some point been stuck in the heads of everyone who has heard it. I know a lot of people must be tired of it by now - that's one of the drawbacks of receiving a lot of radio play - but not me. I still love the song every time I hear it. Lyrically it brings the theme of the album into focus. Nearly every song in some way will touch on the ideas of dissatisfaction with life, the pitfalls and transience of the culture, and the search for something greater, for purpose and meaning. The band continues to rock with "Ammunition," an explosive expose' on our self-destructive nature. Chad's Butler's drumming takes center stage during the intro, featuring some odd timing that seems disorienting until it slowly builds into a discernible pattern.
I never feel like Switchfoot is doing something just to do it. They are not overindulgent and their work is always heartfelt. In some ways they resemble U2 in their ability to take simple progressions and make something special out of them. "On Fire" is perhaps the song most reminiscent of their classic ballads. It's a fantastic slow and tender moment, maybe the quietest point on the album. Between this extreme and the opposing rock tracks exists every shade of intensity. "This is Your Life" and "More Than Fine" bubble along at an even pace, both demonstrating the band's ability to add interest where lesser groups would probably deliver un-memorable stock songs. "More Than Fine" has an unpredictable verse melody that catches your attention immediately, and "This Is Your Life's" oddly haunting synths embody the space between fear and regret. Then there are the songs with a more robust pace. "Redemption" may be the oddball on the record with nothing else that really corresponds to it in terms of sound. It uses clear, clean instrumentation but keeps a brisk gait and boasts one of the better choruses on the album. "Adding to the Noise" and "Gone" are the bouncy, fun songs similar in style to something like "Company Car" from the New Way to Be Human record. "Gone" is perhaps most notable for its lyrics rather than its radio-groomed groove, an upbeat reminder that our life, like today, is fleeting and our earthly wealth has no lasting importance.
Perhaps the heart of the record, appropriately, is the title track. "The Beautiful Letdown" is the first song I heard from this record, played live by the band before its release. It it is a simple song full of jangly instrumentation that speaks of being a sojourner in a land unfit. The hopscotch lyrical meter sometimes feels like it's running to catch up, emphasizing the feeling of being out of place. The term "Beautiful Letdown" is a classic Jon Foreman expression. Switchfoot has made a habit of exploring the paradoxes of faith, and this is another approach at that theme.
As Christians we may not belong to this world, but this album belongs in your collection - and up high on my list. The main video for Meant to Live is pretty cool, but you've all seen it and the sync for most of them is off. I think this is cooler with the concert footage. Check it out.
And - stay tuned for the final 10!
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