The New Hem Album is Very Beautiful and Also Very Sad

I appreciate the frankness with which Dan Messe has discussed the reason for the delay between albums (nearly 7 years). You could tell something wasn't right for a while there.

To hear a song like "So Long" from the guy who wrote "Strays" is truly heartbreaking. Yet there's such tenacious hope and redemption buried in that song.

From an interview with Stereo Subversion: "...We decided to call the record Departure and Farewell. Really making something that was a good summation of our career. And in the course of making this 'ending,' I actually started using pills, I actually got addicted to them. And the band completely exploded. I basically poisoned the entire well where we couldn’t even finish the final record. We were just going to walk away at one point. And it languished like that until I hit bottom and asked for help, then the band started to heal. And all of the sudden there was a rebirth, not just in terms of my own health but also in terms of the love we have for each other and the love we have for the music we make together and how grateful we are. It started out as a swan song and became a rebirth."

From the album's press release:  "Would I have traded my marriage for a song like ‘So Long?’ Definitely not. But given that my marriage was coming apart at the seams I’m glad to have that comfort."

The lyrics to "So Long": 

So long, my love
This world may not be enough
Let go but stay strong
So long, my love

What falls apart
Recalls where it was bound
Your heart to my heart 
So long, so long, love
The time has come to part

May we meet along the way
May you know that I’m 
Waiting for that happy day
When our love is unbounded by time

Love comes and goes
And our hearts cannot but strain
But there’s one who knows
How long; so long, love,
Until we find our way