There is a beautiful physics to the world, a balancing force to all things: for every action, an equal and opposite reaction. For every push, there is one going the other way. And if the personal is political, and the political is laced with fear and rage, then that balancing force can only be love. It comes in many forms: the love of a romantic partner, always evolving. The love a parent holds for their child, warm and enduring. There is the love of self, so often hard-won, and — above all — the love of the people who know you so well, you need no words to explain.
Now, as Oscilla, San Francisco singer-songwriter Frances England is diving into the depths of these loves on her new album, Everlasting. She began writing these 10 songs in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, when the news landed each day with bitter headlines of chaos, anger and division. In that fractured social landscape, writing and recording became her escape, a cocoon for processing and experimenting with sound, memory and place.
The results are as intimate as they are familiar. From the opening notes of the album’s title track, propelled by analog synths, Cuban tres guitars and a human drum machine, to the escalating harmonies of “Repeat Rerun” — a tender meditation on caring for others — Everlasting unfolds like a story guided by England’s lovely and nuanced vocal choices. Through these layered melodies, a deeper message: this is a study of the intricacies of love, and everything that builds and challenges and sustains it.
In some ways, Everlasting is a deeply personal record. “Loose Cannon,” an ode to England’s late father, opens with a subtle hum of organ, an echo of his time as a Catholic deacon. But the reflections that float through the album draw from a part of the human experience that is universal: we all spend our lives being shaped by our connections. We all must learn how to nurture them, and to be lifted by them in turn. And that, as England so gracefully captures on the haunting “Learning How to Love,” is a journey without ending.
Frances England has been making indie-folk music for children and families for over a decade and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2017 for her Explorer of the World album. She fell into the kids music world by accident, making a fundraiser cd for her son’s preschools with no expectation of anyone but family and friends hearing it. “For years, I suffered from terrible stage fright and music was just something I did alone. But singing for kids - the least judgemental and most open audience around - helped me reframe performance in my head. There’s no way I could have gotten here without them.”
Recorded on tape at San Francisco’s Tiny Telephone studio and produced by indie icon John Vanderslice (Spoon, Grandaddy, Mountain Goats), and featuring musical contributions from drummer Jason Slota, guitarist Dan Leibowitz and multi-instrumentalist Rob Shelton, Everlasting is a testament to the lights in the darkness, and to the loves that carry us through.
