Recently ranked ‘a cool song’ in a Franciscanized World survey, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity present Carrie Newcomer’s The Clean Edge of Change. At an emotional time when the end of the semester calls for vocation, career or summer transitions, Newcomer’s Rounder release, The Geography of Light, is about navigating and exploring the appearance of light and shadow in our lives.

The Geography of Light

It is a layered work. On one level, the listener experiences these types of connections through Newcomer’s lyrics, which explore life with a progressive spiritual sensibility. In a world that encourages us to move faster and think bigger, Newcomer invites the listener to slow down and reflect on the small things that make life worthwhile.

As Rolling Stone wrote, “Newcomer asks all the right questions and refuses to settle for easy answers.” On another level, the listener hears a skillfully arranged and performed collection of folk roots tracks, with Appalachian and classical influences. Newcomer’s style is straightforward and accessible. Overall, she is not afraid to take on serious subjects, and does so with a healthy measure of good humor and self-awareness.

Recorded and produced by Newcomer and David Weber at Airtime Studios, The Geography of Light is Newcomer’s eleventh release on Rounder, with prior albums including The Age of Possibility, The Gathering of Spirits, the Betty’s Diner collection and her last album Regulars & Refugees. As her most intimate and lush work yet, The Geography of Light results from working closely with a core of exceptional musicians, including Gary Walters on piano, Chris Wagoner on violin, mandolin, dobro and ukulele, Mary Gaines on cello, Jeff Hedback on bass, Jim Brock on percussion, Keith Skooglund on guitar and Krista Detor on background vocals. At the center is Newcomer’s adept guitar work and resonant voice, the Austin Statesman called “as rich as Godiva chocolate.” From the haunting fiddle hook of “There is a Tree” to the string quartet accompaniment of “Lazarus” to the deep acoustic groove of “Where You Been”, this album is both timeless and contemporary. Also contributing to the project is Hugh Syme, whose artwork was designed with a sense of magical realism reinforcing the idea of expecting miracles in common places.

“I believe it is when we are in crisis that we are most open to change and positive growth.  Of course, no one welcomes crisis, but during those difficult times there is an opportunity for reassessment and transformation.  “The Clean Edge of Change” was written about what it feels like on the other side of a difficult time period.  The song acknowledges that sometimes there is no getting around a problem, you can’t get over it, or under it, or even around it — the only way out is through.  But, when we emerge on the other side of that difficult time period, it feels like the calm after a storm or the deep sigh after a good cry.  There is a clean edge to it. You don’t know exactly what life will look like from here on out, you just know that it will be different.”    -Carrie Newcomer

Website: http://www.carrienewcomer.com/

Lyrics: The Clean Edge of Change

First there is the folding in,

To gather light and dark to you.

The journey down so far that it,

Has nowhere else to go but through.

I thought if I tried hard enough,

With endless motion like a bribe,

As if by this the will of God,

Could be bent to my version of right.

Chorus

What happens next is nearly weightless,

The opening where we stand breathless,

On the clean edge of change.

She cannot live beneath my wings,

No more with he see seventy.

How many mornings did I wake,

And wished that it’d be you I’d see.

Chorus

Bridge: And who am I, who makes this sound,

Who rode the shadow all the way down?

To the Clean Edge of Change

In the clear space of knowing that

There’s as many names for dark as for light,

I am choosing mostly now to speak,

The ones that get me through the night.

But always,with humility,

With a worn now but a grateful heart.

Having sang so recently,

Full-throated In the dark.

Chorus

First there is the folding in,

To gather light and dark to you,

The journey down so far that it,

Has nowhere else to go but through.

The Clean Edge of Change © 2008 Carrie Newcomer Music (BMI), Bug Music Publishing. Recording © 2008 Rounder Records Corp.