"Hello Hurricane" Releases!

"Hello hurricane, goodnight moon." - Jon Foreman

After nearly three years, Switchfoot has unleashed their latest collection of tunes upon the world. A musical journey through the valleys and the peaks, a labor of love, a career-defining record, "Hello Hurricane" is bound to be just as special to the fans as it is for the band. Hello, hurricane, nice to meet you!

And as if nature itself is rising up to the challenge, Hurricane Ida is set to unleash itself upon the Atlantic coast of America. Amazing.

If you haven't gotten your copy yet, be sure to pick it up today at your local retailer, or online. It's already No. 5 on iTunes!



iTunes (Deluxe)
iTunes (Regular)
Amazon (Deluxe mp3)

"Hello Hurricane."



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To commemorate and celebrate the release of this monumental album, I was thinking that we should make a concerted effort to make #hellohurricane trending all of tomorrow. I think it's also very appropriate, because people will probably be thinking it's referring to Hurricane Ida. So, here's what we're going to do, and we need as much boardie participation as possible.

1. Tweet #hellohurricane non stop throughout the day. Make sure you limit it to only three hashtags, or it will not count.

2. At or around this time:
9pm London/5pm New York/2pm Los Angeles/8am Sydney, we are ALL going to tweet like crazy at the same time, and make a huge burst of tweets. Our friend and fellow boardie Deborah said it worked last with Tegan and Sara's new Album Sainthood, and it was a trending topic all day long and even made it to #2 trending topic

3. Have fun and get creative. I'm sure you're all more creative than I am.

4. Also, be sure to work in links to iTunes or switchfoot.com in order to direct casual twitter users to Switchfoot.


So can we do this? Can we?? We need as many of you helping as possible! Any other ideas/suggestions to help out?

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JesusFreakHideout reviewed "Hello Hurricane" and gave it 4 1/2 stars.

Switchfoot continues to make solid albums that have a distinctive "Switchfoot sound," but they still progress in an ever-so-subtle way. For this project, they return to high energy rock and roll roots that sound great without being over-produced. The lead single "Mess of Me" is raw and alive with frantic energy, with a crunchy guitar riff that recalls The White Stripes before dropping into a wailing blues bridge. "The Sound" is a fist-pumping rock anthem with a bass-heavy, Led Zeppelin feel. "Free" mixes in a layer of strings for dramatic effect, and "Bullet Soul" is a catchy rock tune that is the pure Switchfoot fun we've come to know and love.

Read the rest of the review here.

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Sign On San Diego did an excellent story about Switchfoot. San Diego is giving Switchfoot a TON of love, by the way. More on that later. But check this out:

Few multimillion-selling rock bands can match Switchfoot when it comes to having no public image to speak of and maintaining a low profile. But that is exactly the way this veteran North County band — whose seventh album, “Hello Hurricane,” will be released Tuesday — likes it.

“To be honest, a big reason for that is San Diego and how accepting people here were of any form of musical expression, which — when you’re in high school — is really rare,” said Jon Foreman, 33, the band’s lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter.

“When we were at San Dieguito High School, we’d play gigs with jam bands and punk bands, and it was all accepted. I feel like that’s been carried on in Switchfoot and it gives you a confidence that you don’t have to be something you’re not. We’ve often talked about how so many bands are so connected with an image, like ska or whatever current musical fad is passing through, and when that fad goes away, then the band goes away, too.”

Switchfoot, which early on was inspired by such seminal San Diego bands as Rocket From the Crypt and Three Mile Pilot, kicks off a monthlong national tour tonight at El Cajon’s 1,142-seat East County Performing Arts Center. The five-man band is now in its 13th year, which is almost an eternity by modern rock standards.

With the release of “Hello Hurricane,” its first album for Atlantic Records after three for Columbia (and several previous indie label releases), Switchfoot has taken a bold step forward, sonically and lyrically, a partial reinvention.

A dozen songs strong and inspired in part by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the album rocks with a newfound ferocity on songs that at times match the anthem-like qualities of U2 in its prime. The heavier moments are offset by several finely textured ballads, which are infused with a melancholic sense of longing for meaning in these troubled times.

Read the whole article here.

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In other San-Diego-loves-Switchfoot-news, 91x paid them a visit to their studio before they broadcast their Ustream performance of "Mess of Me" and "The Sound." Also, 94.9 KBZT in San Diego played "Hello Hurricane" in its entirety at around 8 p.m.

Jon Foreman tweet: - Thanks to 91 x for dropping by the studio and 94.9 for playing our whole record right now!

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The Badger Herald, a university paper, did a review of "Hello Hurricane" that gave the album 3 of 5 stars. Eh, here's an excerpt:

The flip-flop of emotions keeps Hello Hurricane interesting, but it can only do so much. While some songs stand out and have great musical moments, others take a turn for the worse — unmemorable and unimaginative. For such powerful imagery, Switchfoot fails to shake things up on Hello Hurricane, and ends up delivering a mild storm instead of the massive hurricane they were hoping for.

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For those of us who didn't see the first "Hello Hurricane" tour show, here's a nice, full video of Switchfoot playing "Hello Hurricane," complete with Drew Shirley opening up with the ooo's. EPIC.

Watch here.

Here are some more videos from that show:

Hello Hurricane (again)



Mess of Me



Only Hope



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As you all know, Switchfoot played a Ustream performance yesterday. It was very brief, so I wasn't able to catch it on time, but check out what happened on Twitter:



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There's a "Hello Hurricane" ad on the sidebar of Absolutepunk.net. That site usually is brutal towards Switchfoot. Looks like this record is turning heads!