Fiction Family

Fiction Family, the new band made up of Switchfoot's Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins is releasing its first album January 20th.

In the meantime, you can get a free download of the song "When She's Near" by signing up for their e-mail updates here.

They will be playing in Portland on February 4th. I hope to see you there. I hope to see me there, as well.

Switchfoot Studio Cam

You probably know this already, since half of you have become rabid Switchfoot fans that take pictures of Jon Foreman when the poor man is just trying to buy himself and enormous chocolate yogurt, but the band is working on their new album.

And they've decided to sometimes turn on the webcam while they're in the studio (see below). Yes, it's just like watching baby eagle chicks in the nest, my friends. Live. Day or Night. Pretty soon they are going to fly and you can say, "Hey, I remember when those little eaglets were just little gray fluffy fellas." Only now they are eagles.

Kids grow up fast.

Okay, it's not a perfect metaphor. Leave me alone, man, and just watch the studio cam.

Summer Is Here

Jon Foreman's Summer EP released this week, the fourth of his seasonal EPs.

I've only had a chance to listen to it a couple of times at this point, but overall I like it, and a couple of songs are great. I particularly like "A Mirror is Harder to Hold." So many of the songs on the other EPs seemed to be about dysfunction and loss in relationships, it's nice to have one that is about trying to keep it together. And I like the almost mariachi style music. It's a fun song.

You can hear clips from the song for free at the link above, and can buy the album there or on iTunes.

Other things I like about summer: The sparrows fighting at the bird feeder, the flowers in bloom, the trees adding inches every few days, the way the sky wears every blue it can find with darker shades all the way past ten.

Jon Foreman's "A Mirror Is Harder to Hold" (lyrics)

A Mirror Is Harder to Hold

You could stay a while longer

We could stay up and talk about last summer

We could go down to the water, watch the sunset goin’ under

Its not that I’m a stranger to lonely moments

I’ve had my share of those

Please don’t go please don’t leave me alone

A mirror is so much harder to hold

I could try to point a finger

But the glass points in my direction

Sure you’ve got your sharp edges but my wounds are from my own reflection

You’ve got nothing I could ever hold against you

Ive got fatal flaws to call my own

Please don’t go, please don’t leave me alone

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

I met a man who was looking for perfection

Said he’d never met a girl who was good enough

His eyes are getting old like they’d love to love again

Such a lonely man

Such a lonely man

I see him in my reflection taking steps toward me these days

So I hold you that much closer and pray we don’t throw this away

It’s not that I’m a man who couldn’t love you

I know what these arms are for

Please don’t go please don’t leave me alone

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

Please don’t go please, don’t leave me cold

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

At the risk of this becoming a Switchfoot fansite or something....

Here's Switchfoot's newly released video for "This is Home", a song for the Prince Caspian soundtrack. I like it.

Switchfoot Update (ocean city)

Dan shares some thoughts about last night's Switchfoot concert on his blog.

He also sent this picture of Jon Foreman buying his ice cream, as if to prove that his reporting yesterday was both accurate and timely.

Our Man in Ocean City

BHR's roving reporter, Dan, just called in to report from the Switchfoot concert in Ocean City.



Dan said that while waiting in the concession line he noticed Jon Foreman in line ahead of him, and that he ordered a large chocolate ice cream cone. Dan points out that this was very soon before Foreman was to take the stage. My theory is that this was to get Jon's energy up for the concert. Dan will report back to let us know if, indeed, Jon showed enormous energy during the concert or complained of stomach pains.



More news to come from Dan, but we wanted to make sure to get this Important Bulletin out to you as soon as possible.

New Switchfoot Song

Here's a video of the new Switchfoot song, which they played last week at the Dove Awards. Apparently this song will be appearing on the Prince Caspian soundtrack.

This is why there is a video of Prince Caspian clips running in the background. At one point it looks like Aslan is about to chomp Jon's head off, which is a touch disconcerting. But I like the song.



Via Switchfeed.

Spring Has Sprung

Dan wrote me today to make sure that I understood that Jon Foreman's Spring EP had been released. Apparently I was asleep at the wheel, enjoying the actual reality of spring, which means that around our house we see things like this:

So, once I recovered I went online and downloaded the album. I haven't really listened to the whole thing closely yet, so I can't give a good review, but I will say I'm pleased that "Your Love Is Strong" is on the EP. I first heard the song last summer at an acoustic Switchfoot concert. Jon said it was a sequel of sorts to the song "Let Your Love Be Strong" from the "Oh! Gravity" album. I like the instrumentation on the EP version of "Your Love Is Strong" and think it sounds great.

Anyway, I'll include more thoughts and let you know which songs are my favorite on the album when I get a chance. In the meantime, I've included the lyrics to both "Your Love Is Strong" and "Let Your Love Be Strong" below. Enjoy.

"Your Love Is Strong" Lyrics by Jon Foreman

Here are the lyrics to Jon Foreman's "Your Love Is Strong" from his Spring EP.

"Let Your Love Be Strong" lyrics by Switchfoot from "Oh! Gravity."

In this world of news
I've found nothing new
I've found nothing pure
Maybe I'm just idealistic
to assume that truth
Could be fact and form
That love could be a verb
Maybe I'm just a little misinformed.

As the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our skies tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired

Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your love

Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites

Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All that I am hanging on, all of my world resting on your love
tonight

Winter by Jon Foreman

Jon Foreman's Winter, the second of a planned four EP release, came out last month. I managed to download it from our hotel in Bangkok and I've been listening to it here in Krabi, enjoying the irony of listening to the Winter album while wearing shorts and staring out over the Tha Lane Bay.

One of the nice things about Jon's seasonal releases is that I wasn't tired of "Fall" yet... I was still listening to it nearly every day. So having some more thought-provoking, enjoyable music is a treat.

I particularly like three of the songs on the new EP:

1) "Learning How to Die." See the post below for lyrics. This song gave me a deeper insight into the "Fall" album, actually. I realized (maybe I'm late to the party here) that the theme of Fall wasn't only the season, but also seems to be associated with THE Fall of humanity. It has a lot of songs about things not working out, temptation, giving in to temptation, and grief. Winter seems to be dealing with the fallout from Fall, just like the seasons, of course. "Learning How to Die" shows the inevitability of our separation from one another, the end of all living things and the necessity of embracing that in our current lives. It's beautifully written, lyrically and musically.

2) "White as Snow" takes the words of David, King of Israel that he wrote when he had committed adultery and murder. Jon sings it with a lot of feeling, and you can feel real remorse about the past and hope for the future. Again, this is one of the results of our Fall, that sometimes we turn to God for forgiveness, hope, repentance and restoration.

3) "Somebody's Baby." This was, to me, the most powerful and affecting song on the album. It's a love ballad to a homeless woman. It tells her story in a way designed to make you love her and wish you could step into her life and help her start over.

One of the things I've always appreciated about Jon Foreman (and Switchfoot for that matter) is that they aren't satisfied to keep doing the same songs over and over. What I mean is, each album has a new sound and pushes into new territory stylistically and thematically. This EP is no exception.

There you have it. If I knew enough surfer language I would say something profound like "This album is epic." But I don't. So I'll just say, I really like it. And I think you will like it, too. And I'm looking forward to Spring.

Learning How to Die Lyrics by Jon Foreman

Here are Jon's handwritten lyrics for "Learning How To Die." Enjoy.

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Jon Foreman's "Winter" releases today

Jon Foreman's EP "Winter" releases today. I haven't listened to it yet, I'm seeing if I can download it here at the airport. But I'm guessing you'll like it.

The Cure for Pain

I downloaded Jon Foreman's "Fall" EP this morning, and listened to it while I cleaned the house. It's a tasty album, and I look forward to giving it a more thorough listening. On the first run, though, I particularly enjoyed the song called "The Cure for Pain".

The songs are softer and perhaps more personal than the regular Switchfoot songs. It reminded me, actually, of watching the "Switchfoot Unplugged" concert this summer in Colorado.

Here's a copy of the lyrics to "The Cure for Pain" from Jon's site:







You can buy your own copy here.

Free Song from Switchfoot and Relient K

Jon Foreman from Switchfoot sent out this note yesterday:

Howdy,

My name is jon foreman- I play guitar in a band called switchfoot. Many of our songs have deeply personal stories behind them. This one, "Rebuild" has a story that grew even bigger after the song was written.

This summer, Matt Thiessen and I began to write a song specifically for our fall tour, the "Appetite for Construction” tour where a dollar from each ticket sold will go to Habitat for Humanity. The song, (written with Habitat in mind) was called "Rebuild." Afterwards, we said our goodbyes and both bands parted ways and drove on down the road. Hours later his bus burned down. After the flames died down, the song and the tour had a much deeper meaning.
Now, as our hometown of San Diego recovers from the worst fires we've ever been through, this song has a deeper meaning still. I've spent the last week on tour trying to find out if friends and family are ok. It's been an incredibly helpless feeling. And though we're far from home, we've been trying to figure out ways that we can help.

So we came up with this idea, more than just giving a dollar a ticket this tour we've decided to give a song away. We love giving things away whenever we can, our hope is that you do too.

Download the song, "rebuild" and give your money or your time directly to Habitat for Humanity. That way you don't need to even live in california, you can still help in your own backyard. If you've got extra cash, cool. If not, donate your time instead. Habitat is an incredible organization that has built houses from New Orleans to New Delhi for deserving individuals. After the fires die down we'll need a lot of help in San Diego.

The song features someone from all three bands on tour: ourselves, Matt T. from Relient K and Dustin from Ruth on harmonica. The song means a lot to me and I hope you enjoy it. Now is the time to rebuild. Please join us.

To find out more on how you can help out or download the song "Rebuild", click here.

thanks,

jon

Switchfoot unplugged

During our conference in Colorado, there was an unexpected "unplugged" concert from Switchfoot!

Basically, that means drums, guitar and cello. The concert was excellent. I decided to pretend that it was my birthday on the night of the concert. I get to do whatever I want on my birthday, see, and what I always want is to go to a Switchfoot concert.

They played a lot of my favorite songs, and several new ones. At the end of the concert they did an actual encore. You know how usually there's a "planned encore" where concert etiquette demands that you clap and cheer until the band comes back and plays the last few songs they had already planned on playing. Well, the guys actually meant for the concert to be over, but the crowd demanded more and they obliged.

They actually did a cover of Bad Religion's "Sorrow". I found a video of Jon Foreman singing the song on YouTube. Here it is:



It's even better with cello, and you can here that on Jon's myspace if you like.

Krista took some pictures, which I'll upload later. I actually have a lot of thoughts about the concert, so I may add some thoughts later.

Anyway, as if you need me to tell you: Switchfoot = Good Music.

Switchfoot: new "Awakening" video

As you all no doubt know, my Official Favorite Band is Switchfoot.

Band member Tim Foreman dropped me an e-mail today and asked if I would be willing to post their new video here at the Burning Hearts Revolution.

"Of course, Tim," I replied.

I think you'll enjoy it.

Tim also said, "The most challenging and time-consuming portion of the video was the creating of the 'animated' television. To create this effect, we printed out each individual frame (24 frames per second -- that's a lot of frames!), and then hand-ripped each person from each frame, placing each frame sequentially after the other to re-create the action (think claymation with photos!). This technique has actually never been done before, and took a total of 8 days, with 10 to 20 people working around the clock."

So, without further ado:



P.S. Okay, okay, Tim didn't just write me. I happen to be in the fan club. Yes, it is true.

So if you want to see all of Tim's comments, or you want the code to imbed the video on your blog or MySpace, here's Tim's post.

SWITCHFOOT

I think it's time for you to get some free, legal Switchfoot music.

They're uploading songs from their current tour.

Go get some!