13. The Innocence Mission – Birds Of My Neighborhood

Karen Peris wrote these songs with such fragility, I think at least in part because of how little impact comes from the percussion. Did this album stand out to you for the sort of surreal feeling it produces, that floating feeling of not being grounded?

You can hear family in this album, joy and love – but there is a thread of melancholy throughout. It’s not whiny or self indulgent, more plaintive and just dissonant in a very very gentle way. That makes the warmth feel more real and human. Her voice is fragile, but just physically, there is a clarity and strength to her lyrics and presence. I have never thought that you need to yell and throw your ideas at people, and this album will creep inside and lift you up if you slow down and let it.