Music is the only thing that makes me contemplate spirituality in the face of my staunch atheism. It's not that a CD makes me ponder the existence of a god, they don't... but music does make me suspect there is a deeper level to the human condition. Music is not an essential element of survival. In fact, I could argue it has no real purpose in our existence, but that's precisely why it perplexes me. It is important to me; my life would be shallow without it. This disc by #sunnydayrealestate is a pastoral influence on me and has worked it's way into my double-helixes. This disc was released while I was dealing with financial and identity crises in my mid-twenties. I was ripe to be absconded by a cult, and in a way music did just that: gave me attractive responses to big questions. This CD is as charismatic as any guru. It's honey-warm production and it's ascendant complicated musicianship coupled with Jeremy Enigk's nasal angelic croon sounded like a road map out of misery. It made the doldrums of my life suddenly seem like mystic conundrums. It also really made me think about the spirituality of music. I believe up until this point I had thought that gospel music cornered that niche, slowly i began to understand that all these abstract patterns of sound couldn't be appealing to me in a cognant rational way, there was some other elusive explanation. I've still never really come to any conclusion to this that nestles comfortably with my pragmatic atheism. I have, however, become more comfortable with the transcendent feeling music invokes. Giving myself up to how these songs can influence and guide my emotions and thoughts. I decided to just drink the kool-aid.
