Books & Music...

You may have heard about Jack Johnson’s commendable effort to record his entire latest release on solar power earlier this year, or perhaps about how Linkin Park or Radiohead have incorporated green initiatives into their band business models. In addition to these progressive rockstars, though, another green trend is emerging in a handful of this year’s releases: the retreat to the natural world as a source for songwriting inspiration.

Throughout 2008, there has been a small, but significant, contingent of songwriters who have spent time alone in various isolated parts of the country, apparently utilizing the serenity that comes from a solitary commune with nature, in order to write material for their latest works. And the results are impressively good. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie went to Big Sur, California, while writing songs for his band’s new album, Narrow Stairs, and stayed in the same cabin where Jack Kerouac composed some of his most memorable prose. Justin Vernon, the force behind the critically-acclaimed Bon Iver, retreated to a cabin in Northwest Wisconsin to record his excellent debut, the beautiful, haunting For Emma, Forever Ago. Finally, Minnesota native and spiritual songsmith Mason Jennings headed to a cabin of his very own in a secluded corner of his home state to record an entire album, In the Ever, completely by himself and entirely on Garageband.

Listening to these three albums as a meditative, contemplative suite is indeed an eye-opening experience. Each work is incredibly personal and vulnerable, often painfully so, and the albums have an uncanny ability to meaningfully connect with the listener. Gibbard’s sweeping tenor is markedly resonant on the album’s opener, “Bixby Canyon Bridge,” in which he ponders his ongoing lack of fulfillment despite the successes he’s found. On For Emma, the longing and isolation in Justin Vernon’s voice is palpable, as if you can hear how removed from the world he is as he sings song after heartbreaking song about a relationship that went tragically awry. Finally, Mason Jennings offers what could be considered his most personal release to date, a thought-provoking examination of love, spirituality and mortality that is at turns as fragile and delicate as it is vivacious and fun.

All three works speak to the importance of personal reflection in quality songwriting, and are particularly intriguing in that these songwriters are able to achieve such profound results by temporarily leaving their urban environments and attempting to reach a part of themselves more accessible when immersed in the natural world. If this trend continues to gain popularity, we can perhaps look forward to more exceptional music in the months ahead. It seems, if you want to write a poignant ditty, all you have to do is pack up your guitar and head for the wilderness.