Switchfoot

Item: The Beautiful Letdown
Author: Matthew Williams

The Beautiful Letdown

(2003)

Reviewed by Matthew Williams

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Columbia Records / Sparrow RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

alternative rock modern rock pop rock power pop

Great. So here's another incredibly talented group of Christian musicians, too talented to be noticed by the mainstream market, suddenly being "discovered" by a major label and whisked away to a compound called a "studio." There, the recently "discovered" artists remain in confinement for a good two years and are given a budget (roughly the size of a small Central American country's gross national product) in exchange for making an aesthetically pleasing album, which will more than likely completely contradict any stances that were taken on their more modest offerings. (Any takers at guessing my opinion of the new Juliana Theory disc?)

Happily enough, Switchfoot has not suffered from its platform with Columbia Records but has used it to the band's advantage on The Beautiful Letdown, an eleven-song effort highlighted by lead vocalist/songwriter Jon Foreman's trademark transparent vocals and fun-filled, philosophical style of songwriting, as well as the all-or-nothing musical approach for which the band has become known.

The Beautiful Letdown contains a nice assortment of songs ranging from modern rock ("Meant to Live," "Ammunition") to the musingly moody ("The Beautiful Letdown") to simple, honest ballads ("Twenty-four", "On Fire"). Every song seems to build upon the theme of movement on faith, which is found throughout the band's last release Learning to Breathe, but with more persistence than before.

On the opener, "Meant to Live," an unavoidable, gritty entrance meets the listener head on with a message of a more abundant life provided in Christ's salvation that is ignored by the majority of the world today. Foreman's lyrical approach lends a fury of meaning to the already chaotic musical blend, which continually builds to a frenzied ending: "We want more than this world has to offer. We want more than the wars of our fathers and everything inside screams for second life."

Easily Switchfoot's most aggressive song to date, the tune features meaty guitars meeting Jon Foreman's plaintive vocals to form a poignant dichotomy of purpose and sets the tone for the rest of The Beautiful Letdown.

"This is Your Life" is a picture of someone at the crossroads of life, looking in the mirror and evaluating how life has been spent. An encouraging message of hope in the future, the song sports some of Foreman's best writing:

"Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead. Yesterday is a promise that you've broken. Don't close your eyes. This is your life...is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger, and you had everything to lose?"

Musically, the song is characterized by more sonic quirks and electronic elements than on previous Switchfoot offerings, which could be attributed to the addition of new member Jerome Fontamillas.

"I Dare You to Move" returns from Learning to Breathe for an encore performance and actually sounds better than its predecessor, at least partially in thanks to mixing talents of Tom Lord-Alge. Fitting well thematically with the album, the song features swinging extremes in dynamics, which add to the culminating fervency. Chad Butler, in particular, shines on the drums, and Foreman's voice leaves little, if anything in reserve.

"More than Fine" takes a simple acoustic guitar-driven melody, layers it with sonic nuances and keyboards elements, adds a plea for daily renewal and completeness in God and results in a complex paradox of simplicity. There's much here that I've heard before within the CCM crowd, yet Switchfoot proves that they can take the most common of elements and craft them into something extraordinarily unique.

In light of present concerns, "Ammunition" might come off sounding like an anti-war, political rant, but is a commentary on the human condition being the real culprit for the world's troubles. Foreman sings, tongue-in-cheek style, "I have no generation, show me my motivation," and then flips roles, "one world, one desperation, one hope and one salvation." At a March 15 concert in Atlanta, Georgia, Jon Foreman explained that he sees humanity searching to place blame for the evil in the world on anything but itself, when the issue is that the human nature is the problem. He related that until humanity realizes its need for salvation, it will only add to the tumult.

Foreman continues his trend of introspective, serene moments on two offerings. "On Fire" finds Foreman taking another step deeper into the mysteries of faith in Christ and "standing on the edge of everything I've ever been", while "Twenty-four", written on the occasion of Foreman's 24th birthday, could be considered "Let That Be Enough: Part Two" (the original gem being from the band's sophomore release, New Way to Be Human).

The production is slick and nearly flawless, and remarkably, the members of Switchfoot don't seem to have lost their heads over the whole matter. Sure, the packaging doesn't include the fun pictures of the band crowded onto a bicycle anymore and there's only one reference to Chin, their debut album muse (if you liked that album, you'll be able to find it), but there's a seriousness of purpose, mixed into the quirks, that wasn't quite as cohesive on past efforts and demonstrates maturity.

And the clincher is this: everyone wins. Switchfoot has gained a bigger platform to proclaim the Gospel and display their monstrous talent, while remaining true to their convictions and Columbia Records gets an album of catchy, soundtrack-ready songs, that better yet, contains substance and quality that cannot be ignored. There is no letdown here.

5 tocks