"Swing, Like a Chariot at the Trumpet call when we’re all unsaved, Swing, Like a Wrecking ball, Like the Heart of God…” these are the opening lines to Page France’s album Hello, Dear Wind in which Michael Nau creates a childlike world in which Jesus’ return is a march through the streets with kazoos and tambourines, where it’s okay to get dirty or play in the junkyard, where innocence isn’t naiveté, but truly bliss.‘Cause when our eyes close we’re the same… croons Nau on one of the slower, more pensive tracks where he juxtaposes simple fairytale lyrics with poignant vocals that drip with a certain melodic melancholy that brings comfort as well as splits opens your soul. And that’s what I really like about this record, which pairs the combination of childlike wonder, joy, and imagery with the implication and inference of very adult emotions and attitudes. This truly does reflect the Jesus they sing about, who was called the “man of sorrow,” but always spoke in ways that even a Child could understand evoking imagery of birds, foxes, plants and food and drink. It seems odd, yet appropriate that this band that rejects the moniker “Christian” is able to communicate this way in comparison to the thousands of “Christian” bands who truly miss the mark with an unrealistic gospel and a distant Lord.
Musically, Page France is an odd combination of Folk, Baroque Pop and the own sound, evoking the Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, and even Sufjan Stevens at times. It’s core is Nau’s lyrics and simple acoustic guitar playing and vocals, backed skillfully and subtly by Whitney Mcgraw as well as a coterie of other musicians playing various instruments from organs, to the banjo, to the glockenspiel. At times it sounds like marching band music, or something you might hear at a carnival, and at other times it’s very tender and more traditionally folkish. Over all, Page France really does have their own sound and is a band worth checking out.
Coming Soon - "...and the Family Telephone" review!
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