In Focus: Nothing is Sound

Switchfoot released their 5th studio album last month, following their double-platinum "Beautiful Letdown" release. Many, including myself, wondered if their follow-up could match "Beautiful Letdown", would it be the same music, would it be radically different, would it connect with listeners?
"Nothing is Sound" answers all questions...it's incredible! You can hear the same style and vocals as were in "Beautiful Letdown" but you can also tell the band has matured...they've been around the block, as it were, and they bring real-life experiences and thoughts into this album, starting out with (in my opinion) the best song of the album "Lonely Nation." This song describes the plight of today's youth, their desperationl their inner lonliness. While the lyrics on this album may not be explicitly Christian, they are contain positive messages. CCM defines Switchfoot as "Christian in faith, not in genre." At first I was repelled by this, but then, if one group can reach millions of people in todays mainstream audience, with a positive message, rawk on!
Secular radio has picked up their first single "Stars" and played it to death, and for good reason. Lead singer Jon Foreman's vocals shine brightly and the amazing guitar riffs will have you jumping up and down. They also use their rock on songs about current issues. "Easier than Love" starts out with the line "sex is industry" and goes on to describe how abused sex is today, how it is used in everything until it's easier to love, and fake it. "Politicians" puts a new spin on the belief that all politicians are evil, when Jon says "I'm the politician."
But perhaps the best songs on the album (just as On Fire and Twenty-Four on "Beautiful Letdown) are the softer melodies. Switchfoot wrote the song "Shadow proves the sunshine" over in Africa, and it's message just blows one away...the evil in this world proves that there is good. The shadow proves that there is a sunshine...good can be worked through evil. "Daisy" and "Golden" also draw the listener in with the flowing vocals and rythm.
So, how does "Nothing is Sound" measure up with "Beautiful Letdown"? Well, in my opinion, it'd be practically impossible to equal Beatiful Letdown, however, "Nothing is Sound" comes awfully close and is all one could ask for in a follow up to "Beautiful Letdown." In fact, "Nothing is Sound" debuted at #3 on Billboard, pretty impressive. To the guys in Switchfoot (they added Andrew Shirley on guitar)---Rock on!