The Innocence Mission -
Small Planes

Small Planes Shows High Points
of Innocence Mission's Unreleased History

a review by Jeffrey Overstreet

Copyright (c) 2001  by Jeffrey Overstreet.
Reproduction is forbidden without permission of the author.
Contact Jeffrey Overstreet at joverstreet@gmail.com.

A lot of bands, when they're in a rut or running out of ideas, release a "b-sides" or "leftovers" collection, something to keep the fans and collectors busy.  These albums usually feature one or two real gems that deserved to be included on regular albums.  Sometimes the band even records new work to try and lend importance to the release.

Not so with The Innocence Mission.  Small Planes would convince even die-hard fans that this was meant to be released as another in their line of impressive works, which date back to 1989's self-titled debut.   Planes blends the moody, introspective nature of 1991's Umbrella (my favorite) with the bright, enthusiastic pop of 1995's Glow, while most of its tracks are sparse, reverently performed remnants from their masterpiece, 1999's Birds of My Neighborhood.  (Perhaps the biggest clue to this being "leftovers" is the strong resemblance of one progression to the band's brilliant cover of John Denver's "Follow Me", which appeared on Neighborhood.)

It is great to hear Steve Brown's lively drums and Mike Bitts' bass again, especially on the exhilarating "Too Early to Say"; while their absence was crucial to the hushed tone of the band's last album, they bring an energy and a vitality that varies the pace of this album nicely.  Don Peris lends his enchanting vocals to "Migration", but for the most part he's busy chiming out those luminous guitar solos and chords, giving Karen Peris's miraculous voice a shimmering backdrop.  And Karen is as affecting here as she has ever been.  You can hear the smile on her face in "Too Early to Say".  And there is a startling fragility to her presence as she musters the courage to speak to a stranger in "The Girl on my Left", or as she hides a painful secret  in "I Left the Grounds". 

Lyrically, the album is full of motion: rising, climbing, travel, and retreat. 

It opens with "Rooftop", the only song that sounds somewhat unfinished; it's a bold anthem of well-wishing, in which Karen offers metaphors for praying joy upon her loved ones.  "I hope you are on your rooftop now,/in the sun, in the middle of five hundred flowers,' and the warm wind blows your scar around, flying like a flag."  It sounds like the sort of whimsical happiness that might carbonate a Bjork song. 

"Too Early to Say"is about anticipation of a promised visitor, and whenever the Innocence Mission sing about anticipation, no matter what the specifics of the story, it lends itself to the parable about another Promised Visitor.  "Out in the backyard I will wait for a downpour/ The sky may open but it won't be today./When will I see you coming so many miles?"  The happiness in the song is assuring; there is no doubt that the visitor will come.  The same sentiment is mirrored in a later song, "Some Clear Joy is Coming."

"Migration", a lilting psalm about a sure and true navigator through life's storms, is especially strong and comforting, and features a familiar phrase: "All the birds of this neighborhood are leaving./Some days we feel left behind."  By suggesting the disappearances of birds for winter, she assures us that our losses will soon be forgotten in joy springing back through.

Anticipation and faith are recurring elements as well.  She struggles with fears when a wounded friend heads off into traffic to try and press on with life, and she calls for "the brotherhood of man" to be kind during this heavy hour.  "The Girl on my Left" is as specific and candid as a diary entry, as the singer grapples with a paralyzing lack of confidence; she watches her beloved who can talk to "anyone here...about anything" while she feels miles away from "the girl on my left." 

The song that immediately follows underlines the importance of bridging the distance between people, as each missed opportunity is indeed a sad loss. "A man said Why, why does traveling/ in cars and in trains make him feel sad...." And she discovers the answer: "It's the people in the cities you'll never know,/it is everything you pass by,'wondering, will you ever return?"   While hope is strong for a secure future, beauty is temporal and the modern rush keeps us from enjoying it in our natural rhythms.

"Small Planes", the albums true highlight, a heartbreaking confession of good intentions that, for whatever reason, never are put into action.  Perhaps these planes are words or deeds which, like feeble paper airplanes, fall short or veer off and land where they were not intended.  The singer wonders when she will finally break out of her room, her habits and routine, to make that important connection.

Or perhaps the planes are like songs...melodies that we hear and never share.  We can be thankful that, in the rush of the noisy world, Karen and Don have not kept these songs to themselves.  How many bands in the world leave you feeling genuinely uplifted, quiet, and hopeful?  I doubt many could spend time with this album and accuse these songwriters of stooping to sentimentality.   These are the confessions of experience, and the conviction of things not seen.   Not yet.