I'm quite often a bit late on the uptake in my discoveries, and this one is no exception. Since first hearing this song, I've come to realise The Innocence Mission have been sharing their music since 1989, and this particular track is from their eleventh album, See you tomorrow.
But it doesn't really matter. It's reached me now.
This piece of music really hit me as soon as I heard it, and it's haunted me to the point where I knew I had to write about it in order to lay it to rest.
The sound The Innocence Mission produces is something different, something other. Clearly a lot of that has to do with the voice of Karen Peris, which is truly unique. Karen uses that heavily-accented voice to deliver lines with aching emotion - you can picture her talking with you at the fireside, sometimes partly turning away and then returning to finish the conversation. I can see that this won't be everyone. Some people (including me at times) may feel uncomfortable in the presence of this voice, but perhaps that slight discomfort adds to the appeal.
Then there's the chilly minimalism in the arrangement of the music - perhaps those are echoes of the spaces of Pennsylvania - and the band's ability to somehow conjure something precious by their handling of a few instruments, and then nurture and craft it, patiently, into something even more wonderful.
In this song, there's a lovely lo-fi piano, at the base while Karen's voice floats somewhere slightly above us. Strings come in, swirling around us with a hint of tension; and then backing vocals which only add to the subtly ghostly feel. Near the end of the song, there are some slight scufflings just perceptible at time, and it all ends with a touch of white noise - tape hiss, or something else.
I'm not quite sure if this song comforts or unsettles me and that's what makes it slightly addictive.