“I don’t believe that music can single-handedly change the world. But music has the power to move the human heart, music is a spark that ignites incredible change,” writes Jon Foreman in their Switchfoot’s site journal.
This is the cen
tral theme of the band’s flagship song, Float, from their tenth studio album, Where the Light Shines Through, released July 8, 2016.
The album offers twelve distinct tracks that are unique in their own way, the band dabbling with styles different from their usual alternative-rock sound. Fans who have grown with Switchfoot’s music playing in their iPods will notice the change and maturity in the band’s current sound.
The album’s first single, Float, offers a mellow yet funky groove that creates a feel-good vibe belying the song’s actual inspiration the lives of Iraqi families battling for survival against the threatening presence of ISIS.
The song is just the start of the band’s evolving music, though. Listening to the entire album will give you a taste of Switchfoot’s musical diversity, from the ballad I Won’t Let You Go to the upbeat Looking for America which features the rapper Lecrea, this is Switchfoot like you’ve never heard them before.
Despite the band’s stylistic changes, this is still the same Switchfoot that challenged us with Dare You to Move and Meant to Live back in 2003. This time though, they are challenging their listeners through a softer tone in Live it Well.
In every album, Switchfoot makes it a point to have an anthem that rallies people to move, change, or do something. And this I believe is their trademark. They may change styles and experiment with their music but as long as they have this signature mark, they will remain to be the Switchfoot we are all familiar with.
Their current sound may not be for everyone; some might still prefer the alternative-rock sound that propelled the band to stardom. With everything happening in the world around us, this just might be how Switchfoot prefers to let their light shine through.
After all, “Life is short, [let’s] live it well.”
