Review:

on 2013-03-26 Rahgwood Said:

We live in a society that has idealized music. We have music playing almost everywhere we go. We use it as a shield against unwanted intrusions into our lives. We have a soundtrack for everything we do: music for cleaning, music for driving, music for love-making, music for loneliness. We identify ourselves by our music, we live in sub-cultures grouped around genres of music. We spend thousands of dollars on stereo systems and speakers. We will drool over a special edition release with added liner notes, even though we own the original record, have a copy on CD, and carry around the mp3s in our Ipod. In fact, since the sixties we have believed that through music the world can be changed. Some of us believe that through music the world can be saved.

Good music speaks into the deep recesses of our heart; it tells us something, something that we may not be able to articulate, but that we recognise as truth. With the very first song of Lost Animals, Josh Garrels declares that he has a statement to make. He declares his purpose, "the plan is to withstand the demands of a confused oppressor." Josh Garrels is here to convey truth. Truth beyond the confusion and the misdirection of all the things the world says are important. The modern life makes us feel like a fruitless tree with a rootless disease/ Growin in a bucket in a rich mans home/ Next to the TV, tamed and alone. Its the ability of music to remind us of what we are really meant to be that has made it so central to our lives. In Indiana Sky Josh Garrels expresses this clearly when he says, We waited for so long/ To hear the Spirits song/ And He wants us to sing/ Its time to taste and see/ All the things were meant to be.

We all have things to say, or at least we imagine we do. Art is perhaps the most powerful method for us to convey our experiences and our understanding of all the meaning hiding just underneath our perception. Josh Garrels voice is not confined solely to the lyrics. In his instrumental songs he gives us an insight into the deep joy he has found. Listening, one cannot help but feel that life is exciting and beautiful. He offers a ray of hope, he helps us remember.

In the end, the songs dont change a thing. We look to music as something powerful in and of itself, but its only a vessel. It may or may not contain something of value. Do we look to the creation for the production of meaning, or is the art simply a signpost pointing something beyond itself. For Josh Garrels it is a signpost. His creativity is rooted in a purpose; he wants to tell us that were being called... home through the wilderness/ Far beyond the gates of death. Josh Garrels reinforces the strength of this message with the powerful lyricism, versatility and artful composition of this album. The power of the music comes only if This love [that] endures forever can come through the music and pervade our hearts. If you listen to this album, hear closely what Hes saying and maybe you will see, In a world without end/ The old river flows down streets of gold/ Its the light of men/ Come all you weary travelers and/ Rest your bones/ No trouble will beset my son/ Who comes back home.
Rating: 10/10