After releasing the Fall and Winter EPs at roughly the appropriate time of year for each (late 2007 and early 2008, respectively), singer/songwriter Jon Foreman returns to complete the cycle of seasons with the final two discs in the set, Spring and Summer. The overall tone of these two discs, as you might expect, is a bit brighter than the mostly stark sound of the previous two. This makes sense for seasons that mark a time of new birth, new things coming out of the ground, a chance to see the world through childlike eyes once again. Foreman's solo project a creative zenith here, just like how the sun reaches its highest point in the sky during summer solstice. And that's not to say that optimism suits him better than the bleak realism of the "darker" seasons. It's simply that he infuses many of the songs in this set with brighter colors, including a few surprisingly up-tempo pieces that work quite well. The instrumentation is more varied here, though still acoustic and largely do-it-yourself in its nature. It's not a night-and-day difference, but rather, a subtle shift in dynamics that still maintains continuity when you transition from Winter to Spring, or from Summer back around to Fall again. While each disc is really a necessary piece of the whole picture, I find myself more satisfied with the Spring and Summer set overall, simply because a higher percentage of the songs are memorable to me.

SPRING
This EP is actually my favorite of the four, because it came across as the most surprising after I thought I might be able to guess at the pattern Foreman was going for and predict what Spring would sound like. (It's much like the Air disc of Thrice's Alchemy Index project in that regard, though sound-wise, I'd never think to compare the two projects.) Here Foreman shows us that a little bit of Sufjan Stevens influence, a few familial voices in the background, a dose or two of honest, earnest romance, and a little bit of Scripture can create a montage of sounds and thoughts that bring the greens and blues and pastel colors of springtime to life. There's a softspoken sense of excitement and wonder to this collection that comes as a welcome change. Interestingly, the varied styles of this disc have left some other critics less impressed, as if Foreman isn't able to cover happier and more hopeful topics with as much depth as he was able to cover the downtrodden subject matter found on the first two EPs. It's not all chirping birds and blooming roses here. There are still challenges to wrestle with and moments of panic and uncertainty. But this time it's more about looking at these things as a catalyst for change, instead of focusing on and empathizing with the pain. Really, you can't have one without the other.

March (A Prelude to Spring)
We set out from home early one morning
We, my love and me, walking alone
We, birds and the bees, trees of the forest
Started as one, something went wrong, we ended alone...
Spring begins with the shortest song on all four projects - an upbeat, chirpy little waltz that has a bit of a circus-y quality to it due to its horns and bells and so forth - toss in some female background vocals and you've got a dead ringer for a Sufjan Stevens track. This isn't a bad thing - the almost goofy mood of the track only lasts for a minute and a half before giving way to the first "full" song on the disc. The music is a bit bizarre when juxtaposed with the lyrics, which tell a brief tale of a mother and child becoming separated - the "mother" in this case seems to be described as if she might be Mother Nature. But that's just a guess. Anyway, it's an intriguing and offbeat way to get things started.

Love Isn't Made
Escaped to the water
I stare up at the stars and moon and sky
I was lying on my back with my fingers in the sand...
The gentle trembling of strings and Foreman's voice calling out from off in the distance bring us into this thoughtful, meditative track that finds him coming to terms with the meaning of love as he ponders the separation between himself and a loved one. Despite the mellow nature of the song, you can immediately detect the change in tone after Winter - the bells, strings, and drums add a lot of color and variance to the basic guitar strumming - at times you forget the guitar's even there, and yet the other instruments maintain a delicate touch, never overpowering the vocals or the words that they convey. As the song comes to a climax with a chorus of "Don't let the panic bring you down", a pair of lovely, lilting female vocals adds a perfect finishing touch to one of Foreman's best songs yet. Those two voices turn out to be Sarah Masen - a former label mate of Jon Foreman's from waaaaay back in the days of re:think Records (which got Switchfoot's career started) - and Emily Foreman, who just so happens to be Sarah's sister and Jon's wife. (For some reason, I managed to get into both artists without realizing they were in any way related.)

In My Arms
I think I figured it out
We need to be together like the shore and the sea
We are not one thing
We're drawn here together, my ocean and me...
It seems only appropriate for there to be a song about Foreman's wife appearing after a song that she contributed vocals to. The tales of love lost and ominous admonitions such as "Don't trust anyone at all, not your best friend or even your wife" on the first two discs might have alluded to a less-than-happy marriage, but this track, brushing along gently with its acoustic guitar, bells, and not much else to clutter things up, seems to reaffirm the eternal connection that lasts beyond any temporary conflict or mistrust, as Foreman sleepily croons - "Love, we sleep apart for the last time." It's one of his simplest songs, in terms of meaning. He simply wants to wake up beside her again. Awww.

Baptize My Mind
Both my hands are filled with guilt
Be my absolution
Both my eyes are blind with filth
Be my absolution...
This track would be the most obvious moment where Foreman channels Sufjan Stevens, but I think the occasional homage is OK. It's just hard to think of anyone else when you hear a peppy baroque pop tune played in 5/8 time, with trumpets and chimes and so forth joining in the pastoral celebration as the acoustic guitar does a neat little dance around the irregular beat. But where Stevens might have spent a track like this on obscure geographical references that pointed to some sort of spiritual meaning in his mind, Foreman takes the more direct approach and makes this track a simple prayer, confessing patterns of sin to God and begging to be made new again, observing that "For these seeds to give birth to life, first they must die." The song has the effect of a fresh spring rain falling on newly-awakening flower buds, as a neat little flute solo adds a bit of a loungy feel later in the song. The catchy tune, infectious rhythm, and joyous layering of instruments gets me every time. This one manages to top "In Love" and end up being my favorite track on all four discs.

Your Love Is Strong
I look out the window, the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day...
Aside from Fall, Foreman seems to have written a straightforward worship song based on Scripture for each EP< and this one is Spring's version. It borrows heavily from The Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount overall, rephrasing the words Christ taught us into a slightly more conversational format as Foreman makes simple observations of God providing for even the smallest creatures, and admitting that worry should really serve no purpose in his life in light of this fact. The even guitar strumming provides just the right amount of tension to let the song "build", turning from something very simplistic into something quietly majestic as the drums, piano, and strings begin to swell up, almost unnoticeable at first, but becoming an outpouring of musical gratitude as the song reaches its prayerful crest.

Revenge
I watched heaven die in the day
And I'm gonna die here tonight
I'm a villain, I deserve to be dead
I've been hung up for wrecking my life...
It seems odd to end such a hopeful and prayerful EP on such an ironic note, and one might wonder what this weary, washed-out meditation on Foreman's vindictive nature has to do with the season of spring - but pay close attention. The phrasing is trickier, but the revelation slowly begins to hit Foreman, as he ponders his lust for drawing "first blood", that this blood was drawn from the Almighty Himself, in the form of the crucifixion. The "revenge" is turned around at this point - poetic justice arrives in the form of grace, putting the final nail in the coffin of his sins. It's a poetically subversive way of approaching a familiar concept - and I'm sure it would have been an ironic centerpiece if ramped up into a snarling, angry rock song on the Switchfoot record it was originally considered for. But it never made it out of its acoustic format - and perhaps that's for the best - the wry irony is paired well with the sparse acoustic guitar, upright bass, and slight touches of brass that serve as the backdrop for this unusual end to the project's third act.

SUMMER
Aside from one song that is surprisingly rock-oriented (and thus much like Switchfoot) in its approach, Summer is of a piece with Spring. Maybe some of the greens have dried to yellow, and the hot sun is beginning to turn the season of growth into a season where only the mature plants can persevere. Maybe there's a bit more meat and a tad less milk here. That's perfectly fine. Foreman still has a good share of surprising moments here, and as the cycle completes itself on the last few songs, it becomes easier to see how a few of Summer's meditations seem to build off of thoughts from all three of the other seasons - as if some of these tunes were written with sequels in mind, or were intended to work as a recurring concept. This makes sense - the change of weather, the angle of the sun, and the status of having little or having plenty shouldn't affect the constant of faith that Foreman delves into on all four discs. It merely changes the application of that faith - the thing that needs to be believed and/or practiced to make it through to the next phase. Faith is a cyclical thing, after all. God is constant, but humans waver and continually need to re-learn, or at least be reminded. And Summer brings a fitting sort of closure to this repeating cycle.

A Mirror Is Harder to Hold
I could try and point the finger
But the glass points in my direction
Sure you've got your sharp edges
But my wounds are for my own reflection...
When played back to back, it's easy to miss the transition between Spring and Summer, since one ends with a slow, uncluttered song in 6/8 time, and the other starts with a musically similar song. The mariachi trumpets are the only hint that we've moved on further out west (and south!), trading in lush green fields for dry sand and cacti. He's back to begging a loved one not to leave him alone - something's different this time, because he's learned how to examine himself, and he needs this person's cutting observations to make him a better man. The metaphors revolving around mirrors and glass are subtle, but effective here. This song is the sound of one fallen human being asking another, equally flawed human being to not let their brokenness serve as a reason for them to be apart.

Resurrect Me
I tried to drown the pain with a friend of mine
It didn't seem to help
Oh, she's got a pretty face with a wedding lace
But I'm still waking up with myself...
You can tell we're gearing up for something big as a pair of sitars begins to rehearse their role in the project's most upbeat, jarringly different track. It's got plenty of that old Switchfoot quirkiness - just replace the heavy dual guitar attack with furious acoustic strumming, and the hyperactive drum fills with clattering metallic percussion and overly excited hand claps, and the band's style becomes Foreman's solo style, as filtered through a heavy dose caffeine. Foreman pulls some other tricks here like double-tracking his vocals, just to make this song sound like the work of a full band, and a rather spirited and acoustic jam-oriented one at that. The song pulls no punches lyrically, describing time spent lusting after petty things and admitting, "I am a living, breathing hell", and expressing to God that he's in a dry season, desperate for a sense of rebirth. He'd rather die to himself and be reborn now than live in a long, drawn-out, pathetic downward spiral that haunts him until his physical death decades later. Really, the only complaint I can make about this highly addictive song is that its sitar "riff" mimics the lead guitar riff from Switchfoot's "Easier than Love" a little too closely. That said, they probably could have placed it before or after "Amateur Lovers" on Oh! Gravity and found themselves a perfect segue. It's almost a shame that this isn't a Switchfoot song, because I sure as heck would have loved to see the band rail away at it in concert.

Deep in Your Eyes (There Is a River)
There's a river in our blood
From my fathers on through
I see you looking for the ocean, honey
There is a river in you...
If you thought "In My Arms" was a beautiful little love song, just wait until you get a load of this one. The delicate echo of the high notes played on the piano give this one a lush, tranquil sort of mood. I already made an analogy about a piano-based song resembling gentle ripples on a lake in my Coldplay review, so I'll avoid rehashing that metaphor here, but suffice to say, this is a lovely example of how Foreman can trade acoustic guitar for piano and still come up with a compelling song (compared to "My Love Goes Free", which was also a simple, emotional song, but its overall tone was a bit dull). Again, it's probably the subtle layering of instruments that makes me feel that way - there is a little bit of acoustic guitar just to give the song a light rhythmic bed to build on, and once again, a slight dash of strings and horns goes a long way. It's a song about connecting with a person whom you care about deeply - really locking eyes with them, seeing the depth of desire and soul-searching going on in there, and realizing your quests are one in the same. Foreman's falsetto is quite lovely here, and when he sings of the depth he sees in that person, it's accurately echoed by the music, which glistens like the sun shining on a crystal with an infinite number of facets. (Perhaps that was a bit much. But it's the kind of song that can't help but inspire hyperbole.)

Instead of a Show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stop up my ears when you're singin' 'em
I hate all your show...
Foreman does his best Derek Webb impression here, totally changing up the mood for an amusing little protest song in which he gives a rather prophetic indictment of the "worship trend" that has dominated CCM for the better part of ten years. The distant, echoing whistles that compliment the song's intro riff give the song a sort of quality that's half outlaw and half court jester, as Foreman dares to utter remarks such as "I hate all your show and pretense", and "There's blood on your hands". Wow, really? It seems rather bold to insinuate that all of our flowery little worship songs are really just getting on God's nerves, especially when Foreman has a few of his own songs in this collection that are really just worshipful paraphrases of the Bible. But the point isn't so much that it's a bad thing - Foreman's point is that it's being used as a facade, making us appear all "holy" when we raise our hands and sing along to these feel-good tunes full of Christian buzzwords in church or at large summer festivals with tents that sell ten million varieties of "Christian" products and so forth. His premise is that we're dropping the ball when it comes to justice, that a lot of our "worship" is really just meaningless noise as far as God's concerned if we're not out there tending His sheep. Don't forget about "Somebody's Baby", a song which was strategically placed right next to a vulnerable, confessional song of praise. That song was about those who aren't cared for by the Church. So there's a "social justice" sort of angle to this one (and I've noticed that some of the better worship-driven acts in CCM are starting to become more aware of the need for their music to acknowledge this), but even aside from that, I think Foreman is right to point out that some of this "worship" is really just an excuse to make noise that impresses other people in the short term, but in terms of what's actually being said, it's a bunch of ill-conceived catch-phrases that don't really cause people to think about the meaning of the words they're singing along to. I could go into a much longer tirade on this subject, but you could probably get a lot more out of it from just listening to the song for yourself.

The House of God, Forever
Your shepherd's staff comforts me
You are my feast in the presence of enemies...
Well, it takes guts to put the last of your simple Scripture meditations after a song that just finished skewering the Christian music's tendency to oversell anything it can label as "worship music". I'd have to scold Foreman for that one if he didn't come across as being so darn genuine. This time around he's reflecting on the 23rd Psalm - probably the most famous Psalm of them all - and it seems a bit slow and dry when his sparse strumming is sustained throughout the first languid verse, but the slight touch of strings, harmonica, and trumpet add color and variation when needed, and then biggest treat comes along in the form of a duet vocal from Sarah Masen. This track is every bit as spare and earnest as many of the tracks on her album The Dreamlife of Angels, but it's that very quality that makes it work (despite a lot of that album not really working for me). I can't really imagine a song about being led by still waters getting terribly complex in its sound without seeming disingenuous. They needed to keep this one simple, and it worked out really well for them.

Again
Oh Lord, Father of history
This day, let it be known
That You, Lord, are present in a human event...
Whatever that exotic Asian instrument was that made "In Love" such a highlight, it's back here, paired with a piano and an unhurried acoustic guitar melody for a relaxed finale, one that thanks the Lord as it looks back over the events which have transpired during the year, and observes that "You are turning our hearts back to You again". It has the huge, awe-inspiring, majestic feel of being on scared ground that "In Love", but there's something a lot more peaceful and less fatalistic here. "In Love" celebrated a holy ritual involving death, and this one is wholly concerned with the new life that has now become abundant. It's a really nice way to connect the solemn climax of Winter to the peaceful ending of this record (and the project as a whole), complete with the whole "leave the tape on as he walks out of the studio" trick at the end (which might be a bit cloying when used twice, but oh well, you can just stop the CD after the last note from the piano if you find it distracting).

It's amazing that Summer is so musically diverse, and yet manages to bring a sort of thematic unity to Foreman's project as a whole. What started out as a solo project that I was only mildly interested in, which seemed above average overall but only had scattered highlights, has blossomed into an almost fully-realized song cycle that brings many aspects of a well-rounded songwriter's personality to light. The flaws are quite easy to overlook at this point, and I would be wholly supportive of another solo project by Foreman in the future (though I would prefer the more traditional "album" format next time around). While it's not a guarantee that Switchfoot fans will be able to get into this, I think that anyone who enjoys a quiet, literate, and reverent analysis on the different seasons of the Christian faith would do well to check out all four of these EPs. If you really only had the time to invest in one or two, then make Spring and/or Summer your priority, but I think that even the most imperfect pieces are needed to best appreciate what Foreman is trying to do here.

ALBUM WORTH:
March (A Prelude to Spring) $1
Love Isn't Made $1.50
In My Arms $1
Baptize My Mind $2
Your Love Is Strong $1.50
Revenge $1.50
A Mirror Is Harder to Hold $1.50
Ressurect Me $2
Deep in Your Eyes (There Is a River) $2
Instead of a Show $1.50
The House of God, Forever $1.50
Again $1.50
TOTAL: $18.50

Websites:
http://www.jonforeman.com
http://www.myspace.com/jonforeman

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening