Hello Hurricane

Ever since I was eleven years old I have been listening to the most amazing and inspiring band in the world. I am sure if you are a friend of mine or if you read my blog occasionally you know that I have an immense love for the band Switchfoot. I have just turned twenty-one this year and that is amazing to have ten years of listening to the same band. Even through teenage fads and my crazy music filled life there has always been this one stable band in my life. I have seen them many times in concert and each time have fallen into their magical musical world. This week Switchfoot came out with their seventh album Hello Hurricane. As an ode to my favorite band I thought I would review myself Hello Hurricane since I have never really done this before.



1. Needle and Haystack Life: The first song of the album is not the single like many others albums have on them. The line that sticks with me is “You’re needle girl in a haystack world” It reminds me of the theme of Concrete Girl. This song is a hopeful song about once in a lifetime moments and miracles that god gives us in life, things that are like a needle in a haystack. These moments you drink in with everything you have and embrace with your whole self.

2. Mess of Me: Oh the single of Hello Hurricane. In this song we hear the new Switchfoot emerge. We feel the change from the experimental band of the mid 2000s to the creations of a new rock band that doesn’t even sound like them. I like the way this song tells of the mediocre parts of life that lead us to make the bad decisions. It is about failures and living through the lessons they teach.
3. Your Love is a Song: This beautiful song is one of those songs that will always stay with me. Much like the beautiful Only Hope it is about the purity of love even in its most musical ways. It is about finding love as a symphony; a sweet melody that lifts you onto cloud nine. Sometimes you will have high crescendos and other times you may have silent sad whole notes. This is such a powerful song. One of the songs that made me cry on this album. I truly love the warmth and loving feelings this song gives to me.
4. The Sound: The first time I heard this song it was briefly in a Blackberry ad before the album even dropped. It is a rough and gritty song much like Ammunition from The Beautiful Letdown. It is a real rock song that I like for the feeling of jumping and the idea of rising up from the ground. It is about picking yourself up out of the ashes.
5. Enough to Let me Go: Whenever I listen to this song it reminds me of a nice California rock song. It is a sweet song about loving someone enough to let him or her go. I learned this lesson myself recently and can understand the perspective. It is about letting them remember why they love you. I also see this as being a good father daughter song for a wedding. I see it about a father loving his daughter enough to let her go to the new man that is supposed to take care of her.
6. Free: This song is just so energetic. It is filled with so many amazing feelings and emotions. It has a really good guitar riff and amazing lyrics about constantly being trapped inside your own personal world of doubt and fear. Not sure if you will ever get out you want someone to set you free. Because “Inside this shell is a prison cell.”
7. Hello Hurricane: The title track is another one of those windy fun California songs. It has light beats and fun lyrics. The main theme of the whole album makes since while listening to this song. I have a feeling from this song about the whole storm within yourself. It is a song that explains how the hurricane controls what you can and can’t do. The song start to bring the whole album together by making the listener realize that the hurricane won’t always be around and it can’t silence the loving person you are and will always be.
8. Always: I think I’ve been waiting ten years for this song. Much like the songs 24, On Fire, or even my favorite Learning to Breathe it has an amazing way of capturing my heart. This song is one of those so gut-retching and beautiful songs that will make you so close to crying. It is an honest song and one of the songs I will not soon forget. Switchfoot may come out with more albums, they have certainly come out with many before. However no song has spoken to me like this one. I think it may be my new favorite song. It has a sweet similarity of Audio Adrenaline’s Ocean Floor. It lets me know that god will Always be there. I truly love this song so much.
9. Bullet Soul: This song reminds me of the fun sound of Switchfoot’s former hit Poparazzi. It is a song about being able to rise and fall no matter what happens. It is about unity and purity. It is about being a martyr for the love of music and for god.
10. Yet: This sweet little tune reminds me of forgiving love and the many chances we must give to people. It is about forgiveness whether it be between friends, lovers, or the forgiveness god gives us. I love the line “If it doesn’t break your heart it isn’t love. If doesn’t break your heart its not enough.” It is about seeing what you are made of and how many things people can do and yet still find the strength to love them.
11. Sing It Out Loud: This is an interesting song that is always difficult for me to get a good reading on. I think it is one of Jon’s personal songs that needs more time to listen to.
12. Red Eyes: I think from the first twinkling moments this is suppose to be the lullaby of this album. It about uncertainty and fear. I like this song and hope to listen to it more since currently this is the first time I have heard it.

As I close my eyes to listen to the music I remember being eleven again and hearing Learning to Breathe. I remember being thirteen and getting The Beautiful Letdown. I remember the excitement of sixteen and turning seventeen in Nothing is Sound. I remember the crazy Christmas of eighteen with Oh Gravity. Switchfoot has always been an important part of my musical journey both within and outside of god. I will always love the feelings I get listening to the songs from the past to the future there are some great songs. I should probably go to sleep now, but I will do another review of some older stuff maybe someday? I don’t know we will see what I feel later on. I hope you go get a Switchfoot CD soon. They are an amazing band and have done wonders for my self esteem and personality. Good Night fellow music lovers and

Let Your Love Be Strong.