2 Years Late: Better Now Than Never

Although this album came out 2 years ago and I never tried to publish this review, perhaps I can persuade a few of you to buy/listen to the album. Here's the review.



All That We Let In CD Review

The Indigo Girls' newest CD, All That We Let In, is another set of beautiful, uplifting songs that speak to the truth of our hearts as Americans and as lovers of human nature. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers appeal to the best instincts in their listeners; this faith in their consumers is the chief reason for their success on this album and in previous years.
The most necessary song on this CD is “Perfect World,” the Indigo Girls’ simultaneous praise of the utopian aspects of America and admonishment of its underlying roots in injustice and excess. Case in point: “I’m okay if I don’t have to do the killing/or know what the killing is for..../And in this moment we are denying/what it costs.../for one perfect world/when we look the other way.” The song exhorts us to “learn to live another way,” and realize the price we must pay for the cost of the freedom and privilege we enjoy in the United States.
Another must-have song is “All That We Let In,” the CD’s title track. It is an anthem against apathy, an invitation to love the world unconditionally, despite loss and sadness. The poignant yet simple lyrics pull on one’s heartstrings with effective zeal, but never cross into that dreaded arena of “cotton candy” music: “You see those crosses on the side of the road/Or tied with ribbons in the median/They make me gratedul I can go this mile/Lay me down and wake me up again.” Typical of the Indigo Girls, Amy and Emily walk the fine line between gripping emotion and fetid melodrama, always steering clear of the mediocre.
Musically, the album has all the variety one would expect of these such seasoned musicians. Some tracks have a reflective tone, with velvety vocal harmonies and stripped-down instrumentals. There are, of course, upbeat, folksy songs, in signature Indigo Girls style. “Dairy Queen” is a dramatic country ballad with sophisticated and heartfelt lyrics, while “Heartache for Everyone” has a decidedly ska sound, with its organ and accordion instrumentals and hyper-reggae beat.
As an added bonus, the album art is drawn by the renowned comics artist Jaime Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame, and is worth the price of admission alone. So it’s the icing on the cake that All That We Let In will have you tapping your feet while also causing you to want to make the world a better place. It speaks to the most reverent place in the heart, and is a perfect album for any poetic soul. - Clare F. Gervasi