Author‘s Note: It‘s been a tough couple of weeks for this reviewer. I think all of us can say that, and it‘s pretty obvious from the decreased traffic on Epinions that our minds have been elsewhere. I don‘t have much to say on last week‘s tragedies that hasn‘t already been said. My prayers are with you all, however this is affecting you. I thought I‘d fill in a gap here that I‘d been meaning to fill in for a long time, on the album that got me hooked on one of my favorite bands. This is soothing and deeply spiritual music that somehow works for all moods - including when you are broken, scared, and just plain wondering why. At least, that‘s been my experience with Iona.

Wow. I can’t believe it’s been five years. When I finished my freshman year of college, I decided to reward myself with some new music, as this music junkie does whenever he has the chance to do so. It being the end of the school year and a time I’d have to say goodbye to a lot of my friends, I wanted something more relaxing and soothing than my usual upbeat rock stuff. So I decided to check out this Christian Celtic rock band from the UK called Iona, their latest effort Journey into the Morn having just released in the States. I had no idea what I was in for. Definitely, this was soothing music. But the calm was balanced with energy, and the undeniable spiritual devotion of the band melded well with their adventurous progressive rock style and their affinity for traditional Celtic music. I’ve been absolutely raving mad about Iona ever since - I own every single album they’ve put out and still listen to them all on a regular basis. For a band that has remained mostly under the radar in the U.S., it’s no small feat that they’ve been able to consistently put out albums that don’t bow to the mold of three-minute radio singles and cookie-cutter Christian lyrics. The band’s devout Christianity is definitely not something they try to hide, and yet, they consistently manage to draw critical praise from all corners of the globe with their skilled musicianship and the meditative lyrics, often drawing from traditional and even mystical Celtic sources, or the Bible itself. They are at once poetic and direct, and I’d have to say that the vast majority of their fans in Europe are non-Christians.

I’ve probably said all of this in past reviews of Iona‘s work, and I certainly didn’t know much of this when I picked up my first copy of Journey (I’ve since replaced it on CD). Looking back on the band’s catalog, this was the best place for me to start, as it will be for most listeners who are new to the band. It is the most upbeat and immediately accessible of their albums, and admittedly it had the most potential for radio play, with a good amount of upbeat tracks within the acceptable time range for radio play without severe editing! But it had just enough instrumental work, as well as those long, expansive masterpieces so often associated with progressive rock, to keep more demanding listeners satisfied and to whet new listeners’ curiosity about their older stuff. Weighing in at 14 tracks and over 78 minutes, this album is entirely successful in transporting the listener to another place with its meditations on the spiritual history of Ireland, maintaining a central theme around the hymn “Be Thou My Vision”. Most Christian bands attempting this would likely come out with something egregiously pretentious. But Iona’s been doing it for years, consistently offering more than an hour of excellent music (though admittedly, most albums were slower this one, and okay, their first album was only 55 minutes long). It’s amazing that it took me this long to get around to reviewing the album that introduced me to this wonderful band. But I’ve needed to call upon their soothing spiritual magic quite a bit in the past few days, and now I wish to share that magic with you.

Bi-Se I Mo Shuil Part 1
The albums warms up with this slow, brief vocal piece from lead singer Joanne Hogg, who sings the traditional Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision” in the original Gaelic, accompanied only by her sweeping, ambient keyboards. If you didn’t have a translation, you might not recognize this one, since the tune is completely different from what we sing in church today. Joanne apparently didn’t know how to pronounce Gaelic before this one (she brought in Maire Brennan from fellow Irish band Clannad to coach her), but she seems to have it down just fine.

Irish Day
Here before my time walked men of faith and truth…
A brief pause, and more ethereal keyboards build slowly while a lovely whistle plays, and then Joanne begins to sing in English, describing the scenery of her beloved Ireland. The rest of the band begins to slow join in as she reaches the chorus, with drummer Terl Bryant softly thumping out a pulse, which then builds into a gorgeous rock anthem dedicated to the rich spiritual heritage of the green isle. Here the listener becomes familiar with the elements of Iona - Joanne‘s soft, sweeping keyboard passages and lilting vocals, Terl’s lively drumming, Troy Donockley’s flutes and whistles and whatever else he can blow, and solid guitar work from Dave Bainbridge, including a few lovely solos here and there that contribute to the soaring beauty of the songs without distracting the listener with feedback or anything else related to what most of modern rock is doing. It’s all very different from the music I normally love - Iona stands on their own in just about every genre you could classify them in.

Wisdom
And those who desire You more than silver or gold
Will find understanding within their souls
For You are there…
This song opens in a similar manner to "Irish Day", with Joanne very nearly going solo for the first verse and likely only a metronome to keep the beat, allowing the band to join her later. Here Iona addresses the timelessness of God, referring to Him as “Wisdom” and managing to create a modern prayer using very reverent and traditional language. This song is upbeat, a little more so than “Irish Day”, and Dave pulls off a tasty guitar solo near the end of the song that is only a hint of things to come. I believe this one grabbed some radio play on Christian stations here in the U.S., but it’s a shame that the exposure didn’t go anywhere from there.

Everything Changes
Move with the times or just die with the past
Why does it seem the beauty doesn‘t last?
The album flows from here into a slower moodier piece, still keeping a prominent beat, but relying on a more pensive chord structure as Joanne begins to sing a thoughtful meditation on the ever-changing state of the world around her. For a band so obsessed with history, this song is surpassingly in touch with the modern world: “They paint it black and they watch it burn, so quick to hear, but so slow to learn”. If I thought Iona were the type to make subtle jabs at the industry, I’d swear this was the song that was doing it, but I think it’s simply an overall analysis of society’s constant need to be trendy and find “new” things to believe in. Obviously the answer to all of this is that God is “yesterday, today, forever the same”. Rather than preaching to the choir, Joanne is singing this to God Himself, including a few scattered praises in Gaelic. Maire Brennan shows up on backup vocals here, her voice wonderfully complementing Joanne’s as the rest of the band gently keeps the beat behind her. It’s not one of the musical standouts on the project (not that it’s a bad song; it’s just not as complex as some of the others), though I do like the thumping bass that can be heard between the verses.

Inside My Heart
Quietly You arrived, never forcing me to choose…
I knew this song was going to become one of my favorites from the very first time I heard it. It opens with a richly textured guitar strum, laying down an intricate rhythm of 5/8 that seems to weave around itself just like the Celtic decorations in the CD booklet. The lyrics are actually a poem written by Cindy Spear-Polley, who is a friend of the band’s (true story - I posted the lyrics to this song on my website during college, and she was searching the web and ran across it, and complemented me on my own songwriting). The song is a compelling story of salvation, written in an almost fairy-tale language with great visual imagery depicting the sacrifice of Christ and the gentle way in which God called Joanne out of the darkness. It may sound like your average Sunday testimony when I try to write it out, but trust me, this is a delicate praise anthem that deserves its permanent spot in my list of favorites. The chorus effortlessly switches to 6/8 as Joanne sings, “So make Your home inside my heart/Fill this empty house of stone/Make Your home inside my heart/Let me dance in the brightness of Your throne”. Just when you think Joanne’s last chorus is done, Dave switches from acoustic and electric and the band launches into a celebrative and truly rocking jam!

Encircling
The wisdom of my God to teach
His hand to guide, His shield to ward…
By now, the band figures that you’ve been won over by their simpler stuff, and after giving you a small taste of their more complex material, they launch into a full-blown, 11-minute trilogy. Longtime fans of Iona know that trilogies are a staple of their albums, including the classic “Trilogy” from their first album, and also “Matthew - the Man” and the amazing “Bird of Heaven” (from my very favorite Iona album, Beyond These Shores). This was my introduction to that style, and likely to progressive rock in general. Starting out with the tinkling of chimes and a slow but steady drum beat, Joanne begins to sing a very archaic lyric, binding the power of God to herself like a sort of armor. Indeed, the rising and falling dynamic of the entire tune and the minimal repeated lyrics make it seem less like the lyrics are trying to convey a message and more like the band is casting a spell. But don’t get all uneasy about the lyrics being “pagan” or anything. It’s about as scriptural as you can get without directly quoting the Bible, drawing on the “armor of God” passage in Ephesians and the verse in “Be Thou My Vision” that states “Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight” and so forth, for its inspiration. Listeners who are new to progressive rock might find themselves slightly disoriented as the song goes through its musical metamorphosis, one minute breaking from a loose keyboard melody into a driving acoustic guitar rhythm, then falling down into almost nothing the next minute, then ascending into a rousing electric solo that once again, truly rocks, and finally settling into a calming mantra dedicated to “the mighty three”, as a calming flute accompanies Joanne to finish the epic song. It’s safe to say that if you liked this, then you’re going to love the vast majority of Iona’s work.

Journey into the Morn
Sealed by a promise, we are called to become
Those who endure ‘til this race is won…
The album’s theme song is a slow, short tune, with a melody vaguely reminiscent of the hymn “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love”. There seems to be little to accompany Joanne as she sings about the journey ahead, out of the dark night and into the afterlife (referred to as the “Highlands” just to throw in a little Scottish influence), while what seems to be a mandolin and a flute back her up. It’s lovely and over a bit too soon.

Lindisfarne
A shadow of wings flying fast and low
Out of my sight into the distance gone…
This song takes its time to get going, building on more atmospheric sounds and the echoing calls of seagulls, until the band finally breaks in to a slow but jazzy beat, offering an effective vision of waves softly rocking the boat as Joanne describes a trip to the Isle of Lindisfarne, which I believe is off the coast of Ireland not too far from the Isle of Iona, which the band was named after. Joanne’s lyrics mostly describe nature - the motion of life underwater, an eagle flying through the air, the shadows cast upon the mystic isle as the sun sets, and so forth. It isn’t clear why she was there, other than “To say a prayer”, but the song denotes a journey to a place of spiritual enlightenment, and it kind of became my theme song as I spent the summer after my freshman year working at a camp on Catalina Island here in California. Vivid images of that island often pop into my head, even five years later, as I listen to this album.

No Heart Beats
Place me like a seal over your heart
For love is as strong as death…
The albums breaks back into upbeat mode here with this wonderfully lilting take on, of all things, the Song of Solomon. Lavishly populated with Celtic instrumentation, this tune is actually quite danceable except for a few places where the rhythm falls away leaving Joanne front and center. Now, obviously the song’s not about the whole book of Solomon - it focuses on a statement he makes that love is stronger than death, and the passionate richness of his language is echoed nicely in Joanne’s lyrics. This is one of those songs that could be sung to God or to a human lover, and it actually took me a while to realize that, since I’m so used to Iona’s focus being exclusively vertical. Joanne describes physical attributes - “No eyes can see through me, no smile ever drew me like yours”, remaining obviously more subtle than Solomon, but still denoting a strong physical attraction. An often overlooked tune amidst a sea of Iona classics, but a great one nonetheless.

The Search
One of two purely instrumental tracks on the album (there are usually more), this is a slow but passionate piece which I assume is played by Troy on some sort of a flute or woodwind. You can really feel the longing in his instrument on this one, even though there’s no definite rhythm to follow. It smartly fades out on an echo, leading nicely into the next track.

Divine Presence
I wish this wind could carry words to me
To tell You what is in mind…
This is probably the most downbeat part of the record - this song is mostly s softly strummed acoustic guitar and Joanne vocalizing her longing to experience more of God, again utilizing a Gaelic phrase here and there (translations are provided in the lyric sheet). Joanne longs to somehow experience God inside of her physical reality: “I wish this boat could carry me to You, for I am thirsty for Your love”, and it really evokes a picture of a lone woman out on a lifelong voyage, hearkening back to the theme of their last album, Beyond These Shores. It’s personal and yet universal. As it slowly fades out, the listener will likely have no idea what’s next.

Heaven‘s Bright Sun
SURPRISE! A blast of celebrative noise breaks through the silence, and then another, and then a third. This seven and a half minute instrumental piece, its title taken from the line “Grant Heaven’s joy to me, O bright Heaven’s sun”, wonderfully depicts the dawning of a new day without saying a word. After the first rays break, it is calm, building slowly on the tension of the keyboards while a flute depicts the slow process of nature waking up and admiring the light as it comes pouring in. More elements join in as time goes on, and eventually a few voices can be heard - the voices of some sort of indigenous tribe or something like that, and then Terl breaks in with an authoritative and appropriately tribal beat. Let the celebration begin! A wonderfully melodic refrain takes over for most of the second half of the piece, the sun now shining in its full burning glory. The liner notes state offer a Biblical reference - and I know that a certain fellow reviewer is going to love this - the pillar of fire that Moses saw breaking through the darkness during his travels. It’s a long track, and yet it’s over all too soon.

Bi-Se I Mo Shuil Part 2
Another take on the Celtic hymn shows up here to recap the theme of the album, much like “Brendan’s Return” reiterated “Brendan’s Voyage” on Shores. The tune is the same, but her it is met with a playful drum beat, and after Joanne completes her verses, the band breaks into full Irish jig mode, maintaining a deliciously complex rhythm of alternating 5/8 and 6/8 that just made my jaw drop when I first figured out exactly what they were doing. This version of the song has become a definite fan favorite in concert (oh, how I wish they played in the States more often!) due to how good the band is at locking to a groove and seemingly reading each other’s minds regarding where to take it next, much like the Dave Matthews Band would.

When I Survey
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small…
Our lively jig fades out and this slow final track breaks in with a dreamy guitar solo. The song takes a good minute or to before Joanne begins to sing - this is Iona’s reinterpretation of another classic hymn - this one written a little more recently (the early 18th century, to be exact). Again, the tune is different than the tune you might sing in church, but the lyrics appear to be exactly the same. The mood remains slow and pensive - unfortunately this one isn’t as musically interesting as most of the others. But the lyrics are as powerful today as they were when they were written. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” As much as I love modern worship music, sometimes the lyrics have nothing on powerful meditations like this one. A great thought with which to end a great album, even if its eight-minute length may make some a little sleepy.

It’s almost frightening to think that Iona could outdo such a splendid album as this, but with every album they put out, they offer a consistent theme, a long and soothing musical tapestry in which the words and instruments play out that theme, and a great number of classic songs in the process. If you’re looking to “rock out”, you might feel a bit shortchanged, since that’s just not Iona’s style, though some of Dave’s guitar solos will definitely put a smile on your face, and Terl’s drumming ranks him up there with the best in the business (I was really disappointed hewn he left the band until I found out that he had been replaced by yet another top-notch drummer!) Iona can be fast and powerful, but for the most part, they prefer a more meditative pace. They can densely populate their tunes with all manner of Celtic instrumentation, but sometimes a guitar or a keyboard or a voice needs top be heard on its own. In all things, there is a wonderful balance, and Journey into the Morn is a trip worth taking. It’s music to relax to - light some candles, take a bubble bath, descend deep into a state or prayer and meditation, cuddle with your lover, or long for one with whom to share this music (as I currently do). I just can’t say enough about Iona, and this album is the key that unlocks their complex world for all to enjoy.

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: Heaven's Bright Sun, Inside My Heart, Lindisfarne, Encircling, Bi-Se I Mo Shuil Part 2, Irish Day
Good: No Heart Beats, Wisdom, Journey into the Morn, The Search, Divine Presence
Decent: Bi-Se I Mo Shuil Part 1, Everything Changes, When I Survey
Weak: NONE
Skippable: NONE

Band Members:
Dave Bainbridge: Acoustic and electric guitars, E-bow guitar, mandolin, mandola, keyboards, programming
Joanne Hogg: Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Terl Bryant: Drums and more percussion instruments than I care to list. (has since left the band)
Tim Harries: Basses, vocals (has since left the band)
Mike Haughton: Tin whistle, soprano sax, flute, vocals (has since left the band)
Troy Donockley: Low whistles, Uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals, Whithy shell chains

Website: http://www.iona.co.uk

Great Music to Play While: Doing just about anything.


Recommended: Yes