Native Tongue by Switchfoot

Native Tongue is the 2019 album from the San Diego band Switchfoot, their eleventh studio record. It returns to their wide guitar sound after a short break, and it carries a single clear idea: that love is the first language we are born to speak. The title track frames the whole album as a call to answer anger with something kinder.

Why listen?

The sound is melodic alternative rock, bright and full, with Jon Foreman's voice carrying every chorus. The production is clean and layered, room enough for both a soft acoustic verse and a wall of guitars. The lyrics worry over a divided world and still choose hope over despair. There is a steady arc here, from unease towards a quiet resolve to do better. It is a record that wants to mend rather than scold.

Favourite song: Native Tongue

The title track holds the album together, a plain and stirring reminder that love was our first tongue. Its chorus opens up wide and asks us to learn the words again.

Love's the language, love's your native tongue
My heart is a beating drum
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue
My friend, where did we go wrong
My Lord, we forgot our song
My soul such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

The way the song lifts feels like reaching a ridge and seeing the whole valley soften below. It answers a loud, angry season with a single steady note of kindness. That gentle insistence is what has stayed with me.

Key takeaway

Native Tongue is a warm, hopeful rock record about choosing love first. A reassuring listen for a noisy time.

Tracklist

• Let It Happen
• Native Tongue
• All I Need
• Voices
• Dig New Streams
• Joy Invincible
• Prodigal Soul
• The Hardest Art
• Wonderful Feeling
• Take My Fire
• The Strength to Let Go
• Oxygen
• We're Gonna Be Alright
• You're the One I Want

Details

Listen on

• Apple Music
• Amazon
• Spotify

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