The Innocence Mission - My Room In The Trees (Badman Recording Co.)
How long has this band been going, paying their dues, and getting their reward in the form of a small but very loyal following? I mean, is that a reward, after years and years of producing some of the best ‘curl-up’ music around? I was an early fan, amongst the faithful. For me, it didn’t last, as I abandoned them in the mid-noughties. I had to thin out my CD collection, and I cast aside their 1989 debut album, followed by “Glow”, and “Birds Of My Neighbourhood”; plus the singles “Black Sheep Wall” and “The Wonder Of Birds”. How did I tire of them, I now wonder?

Here is their new set of mesmerizing songs, a gentle treat (as, of course, I expected they would be), and playing “My Room In The Trees” is not unlike having a very special friend drop in after having lost contact over the years. Well, thirteen friends actually, each track has a journey of its own whilst nestling amongst its bedfellows. I am back with them, and enjoying the seclusion that their music brings, and listening to their rain falling, which is a feature of the album (this, from “Rain”: “This dress that I made out of the curtains… Was on the line, dancing around better than I can” and this, from “The Happy Mondays”: “The happy Mondays we blow down alleyways… In our raincoats, in the afternoons” and this, from “Spring”: “Oh world of rooftops… Hearing one field song… The walk in raincoats”). If not rain, the songs almost all feature the weather: I’m not a fan of rain, but I might have to re-appraise my feelings on this matter.

The voice of Karen Peris is porcelain fragile, with a slight whine you have to grow to like. The vocals are always accompanied by husband Don’s guitar craft (quite exquisite at this pace), his drumming and percussion, and Mike Bitts subtle bass completes the sound, and the trio. The key word here is ‘complete’. That’s what they are.

Sorry, you probably already know this, don’t you? So you will also know what to expect here, as little has changed in their oeuvre, which, if a fan, one has to be thankful for. And if, like me, you just let the music wash over you, there will be no demands being made, by you or them; just enjoy the deep beauty of these ‘rain’ songs.
www.theinnocencemission.com

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