Foreign Exchange- Authenticity (review)

This most recent Foreign Exchange album is definitely for those in touch with their feelings. I don’t care how "macho" or how much anyone tries to make their "tough guy/gal person" ooze with machismo so to speak, everybody needs love, everyone feels it & experiences its ups & downs, its heartache & pain. This is not an album for those in self-denial.

The opening track The Last Fall, deals with the range of emotions you feel in relationships, how hard it is to leave & even after you do leave someone how reluctant you are or feel you are to try again with someone new because you feel that it’s pointless & unrewarding. I think that is something anyone who’s been in love or what they thought was love can relate to. "At worst an excuse, at best a truce", which I think the meaning is obvious but can be subject to interpretation depending on if you’re in a relationship right now be it in the beginning stages or you’ve been together for a while or you’re dealing with the emotional aftermath. I think all can relate to that line.

Authenticity, which is the title track, talks about struggling to deal with that thing people ask for but generally can’t handle – honesty. People want what they want & hear what they want to hear which is seldom the same as what they need or what they need to hear. This song goes into how the realization of this can tear apart the person in the relationship that realizes this & cause a dilemma for them in the relationship which can’t be understood by those who can’t recognize the problem that asking for honesty poses.



Maybe She’ll Dream of Me takes you back to that time when to loosely quote Michael Jackson "You Knock Me off of My Feet". When you see that person who just knocks your socks off and blows you away, possibly even out of your league but you’re going for them anyway. What you would do to have them. Going so far as to check your ego & pride & the door immediately without question, which all too often we probably don’t do in relationships. Wondering if when he/she saw/sees you, were/are they taken aback in the same manner. Whether they dream about you as opposed to the numerous other people you assume must be after them.



If you’re not in touch with & comfortable with your feelings & dealing with them, this isn’t the album for you. This album is sure to tug at the heart strings of some, bring back up some old memories, maybe even bring out a tear or two. This album has well thought out lyrics which will definitely make you think and reminisce as well as beats that give an excellent balance to the ambiance of it all. As we all go through many trials & errors when it comes to relationships, this is an album everyone should be able to relate to. If you can’t, I’d say you haven’t really experienced the totality of love yet.

~ Juan Garner