Concord Music Group
Release Date: October 19th 2018
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Switchfoot– NATIVE TONGUE (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- NATIVE TONGUE
In late December last year, CCM/pop/rock band Switchfoot announced via a lengthy post that they were officially going on an extended touring hiatus. The news came from left field for most of us, with some wishing the band well (because obviously they did deserve it- they had been making music and touring non-stop since they started back in 1996) and others fearing that they’d be another dc Talk- forever on hiatus while the individual members pursued other interests and solo endeavours. However, throughout this year Jon Foreman and the rest of the band members Tim, Chad, Drew and Jerome, were all active on each of their social media accounts; and it was clear that these guys still had something inside of them yearning to be released- in what form we didn’t know yet.
It was obvious that with that amount of activity, something was brewing, and it was just a matter of time. Well now that time has arrived everyone! After teasing us with a new song “You Found Me”, written for the motion picture Unbroken: Path To Redemption way back in September; it’s time for a brand new album. NATIVE TONGUE drops to stores in January 2019 (with a whopping 14 tracks!) but before that, let us be marvelled at the genius of Jon’s song-writing in the title track, which released as a pre-order track single and as a music video last week.
Musically back to their rock roots ala Hello Hurricane and Vice Verses, we are met with a vibrant, explosive power anthem exquisitely led by stirring and pulsating electric guitar, where Jon eloquently and ardently relays to us the need for all of us to speak in our native tongue, the need for all of us to be kind to each other and to build each other up. Directly referencing the fact that our native tongue ought to be love, and also subtly reminding us all that it is through God’s love that we can speak words of life and affirmation to each other; it is in the chorus that the quintet really hammer the point home, relaying to us that ‘…my heart is a beating drum, my head in oblivion, my soul, such a long way from, my lips, my lungs, my native tongue, my friend, where did we go wrong, my Lord, we forgot our sound, my soul such a long way from, my lips, my lungs, my native tongue…’– as we have the sense that somewhere along the lines, we as a people have lost the way that we should talk to each other, but Switchfoot have decided to actively impart to us that we need to let our native tongue come back, and we need to start acting more like Christ if we say we are truly Christians.
Thought provoking and challenging, I can’t wait to hear more of Switchfoot’s new music, but as it stands, the album release in January seems like a very long wait. Thankfully, we can all spin Switchfoot’s entire discography (or at least their smash hits!) as we eagerly anticipate NATIVE TONGUE. If the lead single is anything to go by, then we are in for a very solid and impacting comeback album! Comeback may seem a bit much, as their ‘hiatus’ was only for a year, however I reckon you can’t really switch off music if you’ve been doing it for a long time, because it’s in your blood. Though one could say that the band weren’t really on hiatus because they must’ve been writing material in their down time- doesn’t every music artist do that? Anyway, I digress- hands up who is excited for NATIVE TONGUE the album? Yep, me too!
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Skillet, RED, Daughtry, Fireflight, Anberlin, House Of Heroes, needtobreathe