the innocence mission, see you tomorrow

After making music for over 30 years, Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s The Innocence Mission has yet another hauntingly beautiful album to offer up to the public. The band, led by married couple Kerin and Don Perris, is set to release their twelfth studio album on January 17th via Thérèse Records. The alternative folk band’s newest project is eleven tracks long and includes a rich collection of instrumentation, with guitars, piano, pump organ, accordion, electric bass, melodica, drums, timpani, upright bass, mellotron, and an old prototype strings sampler keyboard all gracing the songs in clever and achingly beautiful arrangements in addition to Kerin’s unique and aching vocals and Don’s well-placed harmonies.

The album’s introductory track, “The Brothers William Said”, is one of the standouts on the album. Soft and sweet piano combined with Kerin’s airy vocals alone carry us through the first half of the song, and her beautiful lyricism could easily be mistaken for poetry. “The kindness of your face / Does not go unrecognized / Has not refused to shine / In this most difficult time” she sings, bringing hope and understanding to a song meant to shed light on those who are often misunderstood due to their quiet nature. “I’m drawn to titles that are phrases, especially ones that seem to be a fragment from a conversation. “See you tomorrow” is the phrase that turns the song around to possibility and hopefulness.” says Karen about the song that yielded the albums title. While the track starts off sparse instrumentally, it builds to include a myriad of beautifully arranged instrumentation before dropping back off to finish the way it started with solo piano.

“St. Francis and the Future”, like many songs on the album, deals with themes of change and the passage of time. In this track Karen sings of how a painting she viewed on a family trip with her children came to represent looming changes that she wasn’t ready to face. In “John as Well”, echoey vocal layering and heavenly background vocals flirt with the lead vocal as the song builds. This track, as well as “At Lake Maureen”, gently but firmly reminds us of the importance of getting to know the true selves of those around us and the necessity of being understood ourselves. The album’s conclusion, “Would be There”,is a twinkly blend of Karen’s light-as-a-feather vocals and skillfully arranged, thickly-textured sections skillfully building to the outro, where the album goes back to basics and ends the same way it started; with a charming piano outro that subtly lets the listener know that it’s time to slip back into reality.

Keep up with The Innocence Mission here.
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