Issue date: 11/24/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: www.code-purity.com Switchfoot brave the storm and live to tell about it in "Hello Hurricane."

With one sole strum of the electric guitar, Switchfoot opens the door to let you into their newly occupied musical home. "Hello Hurricane" is the seventh studio album from the little band from San Diego, California, who just in recent years became a household name after the mega-success of their fourth album "The Beautiful Letdown." Switchfoot are Jon Foreman (vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Drew Shirley (guitar, backing vocals).

Their first album "The Legend of Chin" was released in 1997, a time in which they were really only known in the Christian-music market. However, their music became so appealing to broader audiences that the group went on to sign with Columbia Records and Sony BMG, a move that would allow their music to travel without borders or limitations.

Years later, the band has evolved greatly, to the point where the first track of "Hello Hurricane," "Needle and Haystack Life," even bears a great resemblance to something by U2. While I am sure the bands intention is not to replicate this legendary band, I can imagine it is an honor and a statement to their musical growth to even be named in the same breath as U2; it is a big change from their beginnings where their music was once more pop-oriented and sappy.

Foreman's lyrics have always been introspective, always questioning and always longing. In the second track "Mess of Me," Foreman sings, "I've made a mess of me/ I want to get back the rest of me." Foreman has always been honest in his songwriting and he continues to do so in this album, declaring the theme of the album to be that love is a fortress that can survive any hurricane.

Switchfoot has always been known for powerful and energetic live shows, with "Hello Hurricane," they have simply have gained more fuel for the fire. A heavy, aggressive and dynamic beginning to this album is exciting and proves that Switchfoot have what it takes to rock with the best of them.

All of this changes on the third track, "Your Love is a Song," not in a bad way though. They show off some of their musical flexibility slowing things down a bit to play a beautiful ballad that starts with an alluring array of strings that create an instantly charming introduction. As Foreman begins to sing, everything disappears but an acoustic guitar and some haunting "ohs" in the background, his lyrics are poetic and clear, "I hear you breathing in, another day begins/ The stars are falling out, the dreams are fading now, fading out/ I've been keeping my eyes wide open/ Your love is a symphony all around me, running through me/ Your love is a melody, underneath me, right into me/ Your love is a song."

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