On the pleasures of myopia. Although a faithful navigator is frustrated with constant remapping, strategizing, and the fatigue of analysis, myopia holds a special pleasure for a wanderer. The hazy horizon induces a state of constant discovery. Captivated by a sharp view of the immediate surroundings, we are released from concern for the trajectory and embrace inherent motion. Names Divine is an infinite band, and Take My Hand is the latest sound of their unfolding now. With each song, the mind turns from the inside out, the flowering of a phrase, the timbre of a figure. Beyond the present moment, the view is blurred, leaving us unable to relate the intensity of emotion with the rules of reality. The foggy images in “Shape of Love” take on impressionistic forms rather than offering mimetic precision. Impressions are also experiences. We interpret, express, and move. Poetic disclosure bridges the coarseness of closeness and smoothness of distance, and we meet Names Divine at the crossing.

But, the pleasures of myopia have a limit. As of our arrival at “Too Painful,” we’re listening through the walls to “an empathetic conversation when words weren’t possible.” Transparency at close range conflates the image with the thing itself. Looking from the sharp object in my hand toward the obscured path ahead evokes my shady memories of Names Divine in Chicago and their wandering. Despite the myopic promise of timelessness, we change. Take My Hand holds this essence, rolling rigid edges into something amoebic and changeful. When the “Other Place” on the horizon resembles my memory, both become soft and vivid. -Whitney Johnson

Kendra Calhoun – singing, instruments, writing
Cesar Arakaki – bass, drums
JR Bohannon – guitar on track 2
Taralie Peterson – saxophone on track 4
Allison Jones – synth on tracks 2, 4, 6, 8
Sasha Vine – singing on track 1
James McNew – bass on track 8

Recorded and produced by Jon Erickson
Mastered by Edward Hamel
Liner notes by Whitney Johnson