Nothing Is Sound is Switchfoot's newest release following their phenomenal Beautiful Letdown release. Expectations for this release were high -- maybe a bit too high. While generally a good, solid album Nothing Is Sound doesn't compare to the brilliance from Letdown. On a whole the CD is a bit of an introspective downer. Most of the songs sound muted and melancholy while the lyrics tend to make us look inward and face our own failures and shortcomings. Not exactly inspiring stuff. This CD is honest. Clearly these songs are heartfelt expressions of the feelings from the songwriters. The liner notes indicate that most of the songs were written while the band was touring for Letdown. Those long, quiet miles of riding on a cross-country tour bus or staying in lonely hotel rooms seems to color all of the songs and provoke deep reflection. While The Beautiful Letdown inspired us to look out, wake up, and live life, Nothing Is Sound asks us to settle down, inspect ourselves, and wait for healing.

The first interesting song on the CD is Happy Is A Yuppie Word. Interesting music combines with the message about the futility of trying to be happy on our own. Next is The Shadow Proves The Sunshine -- another great song and probably my favorite on the album. This song is the most upbeat on the album with the message that every dark cloud has a silver lining.

I'm surprised that I've not heard of any big uproar about the next song, Easier Than Love. Our society has replaced the real concept of love with the notion of romantic love and even with physical love. The straight-forward manner in which Switchfoot addresses this might get them kicked out of a few conservative venues and the ideas themselves might make a few liberal minds upset.

The only other songs on this album that I found much interest in were The Blues and Daisy. The rest of the songs are well produced but just don't have a lot to say. Or at least, they don't say anything in an interesting way.

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