Future Of Forestry - Awakened To The Sound (2016)

Led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Eric Owyoung, Future of Forestry is a Christian indie rock band who combine a sincere, literate, spiritual message with low-key ambient music featuring acoustic and electronic elements. Named for a poem by C.S. Lewis, Future of Forestry was formed in the wake of the breakup of another group, Something Like Silas, which was formed in 2000 and featured Owyoung and his wife, Malina Owyoung. When the Owyoungs' marriage fell apart, so did Something Like Silas, and in 2006 Eric Owyoung announced he was forming a new band with a new musical direction. Initially, Future of Forestry featured the same lineup as the final edition of Something Like Silas, but as the group progressed and Owyoung explored new ideas, he became the only constant member of the band, with Owyoung recruiting different sets of musicians for each recording project and concert tour. Future of Forestry struck a deal with Credential Recordings, a Christian alternative label distributed by EMI (the same label had courted Something Like Silas), and the group released its self-titled debut EP in 2006. Their first full-length album, Twilight, appeared in 2007, but for the next several years, Owyoung and his collaborators focused on a series of EPs, the Travel series, with three volumes released between 2009 and 2010. Another EP series, Advent, devoted to Christmas-themed music, debuted in 2008, with additional installments appearing in 2010 and 2013. In 2011, the Travel series was collected on a single album, The Complete Travel Series, while the same year, the group issued another compilation, A Film and TV Collection, a limited-edition sampler of music Owyoung created for visual media. For the 2012 album Young Man Follow, Owyoung launched his own label, Sound Swan Records; he also opened a studio with the same name, where he worked on Future of Forestry projects as well as recording and mixing work for other artists. ~ Mark Deming.