Dear friends,
With 2017 almost done flying by, we wanted to leave everyone with something special we’ve been working on. We have so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to… we’ve also learned so much with the experience of releasing our first album, and doing it all independently, that we feel a little taste of victory as the year draws to a close.
Of course 2017 has been a year of much change and struggle as well, and we don’t want to just gloss over the hard times as we look back on it. One of the questions we often asked ourselves this year has been ‘how to stay hopeful in the midst of so much pressure?’
Maybe as a form of therapy for herself, or maybe because the words really cut deep, Anne set to music a very poignant paragraph out of C.S. Lewis’ book “Till We Have Faces”. And maybe because group therapy is a wonderful thing, this song eventually became our album’s title track. Its words let us in on the thoughts of the book’s protagonist as she wavers between reciting to herself the infinite list of real, terrible things that are wrong with her life, and letting go of that list, in order to allow her “heart to dance”.
The video clip below is a labor of love- shot partly in New York and partly in the mountains of Trentino, in the north of Italy. It is an extension of Lewis’ invitation, asking us all whether in the midst of real trouble and sorrow we can choose to find hope and draw strength from the beauty that’s there, mixed in with the brokenness.
The video takes its time unfolding, and we’d love for you to experience it fully. Take five minutes to slow down, pause the multi-tasking and enjoy it (best done with headphones, to hear the badass low-end of the Brazilian Zabumba!). This song has captured some of the feelings we strive to convey whenever we perform, and it is our hope that it brings you some joy as you listen.
Huge thanks to Max Shire and Francesco Moretti for their beautiful camerawork.
Love to all and wishing you an adventurous 2018!
-Asaran Earth Trio
