Jon Foreman: Spring and Summer

By Steve Morley

Switchfoot quickly found mainstream success after their major label debut in 2004. But the band gained initial momentum as an indie act, a status Switchfoot regained last year when they left Columbia Records to start their own independent imprint. The label’s first release, Fall and Winter, was a double mini-album from Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman that proved a credible return to a college-radio aesthetic. Its companion, Spring and Summer, completes the thematic series. Like its chillier counterpart, it features acoustic textures that lend themselves more readily to intimate expressions than do Switchfoot’s arena-sized rock and existential lyrics.

“Your Love Is Strong” is a case in point, personalizing Scripture in terms ranging from the devotional to the colloquial (“So why should I worry?/ Why do I freak out?/ God knows what I need”) and gradually building to a stirring climax. As always, Foreman avoids direct identification with the contemporary Christian camp, preferring the freedom to move outside expectations. He does this most notably on the Disney-esque “March,” inexplicably using cartoon colors to paint a fallen world. (“We, birds and the bees/ Trees of the forest/ Started as one/ Something went wrong/ We ended alone…”)

“Revenge” begins with the singer as a latter-day Cain confessing jealousy, rage and murder, but concludes with Foreman describing the superior “vengeance” of Christ’s atonement, seizing its truth more captivatingly through poetic imagery than if he settled for standard evangelizing: “We consumed heaven’s son/ I drew first blood/ But my hate was undone/ I drew first blood/ Revenge…”

Still, Foreman’s faith-based ruminations on the disc are plentiful and often more revealing than his band’s treatments of the subject. Death is a recurring theme, though mainly the symbolic kind leading to spiritual rebirth. “Resurrect Me” couples an earnest cry with uncommonly aggressive sonics that layer an Indian haze over a guitar-driven backbeat, evoking late ‘60s Rolling Stones. “Baptize My Mind” takes a refreshing plunge into South American waters and takes a cue from indie whiz-kid Sufjan Stevens, another artist whose Christian worldview finds unique expression via unexpected paths.

Foreman is quick to examine his shortcomings in his band and solo work alike, but here he dials down his robust voice—almost too often—to an anemic tone signaling penitence and humility. Because stern self-appraisal is so common in his lyrics, his untempered indictment of religious hypocrisy on “Instead of a Show” comes as a surprise. (“Your eyes are closed when you’re praying/ You sing right along with the band/ You shine up your shoes for services/ But there’s blood on your hands.”) In the end, though, Foreman is simply echoing Jesus’ own rebukes to the Pharisees for favoring appearances over works of mercy and justice.

Unlike the stark-sounding Fall and Winter, the eclectic menu on Spring and Summer neither fully supports nor belies its title, other than through symbols of regeneration. As much as anything, it’s the second harvest of a prolific but reluctant rock star whose career is experiencing a fruitful change of season.

Audio Clips

"A Mirror is Harder to Hold"

"Again"

"Baptize My Mind"

"In My Arms"