Sing SOS: Songs of the Spectrum
Various Artists (SOS)

Timed to arrive for Autism Awareness Month, this Songs of the Spectrum release includes fine songs written by by John O'Neil, Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes that address the experience and issues of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The songs are good enough, and the topic relevant enough to many of our lives to recommend them on their merits alone. Smart writing, insight into a challenging mental disorder, all to benefit a good cause, all making this project worthy of our celebration.

And the SOS people have smartly invited a few well-known vocalists to come and sing and play on the songs. With names like Jackson Browne, Marshall Crenshaw, Ollabelle, Dar Williams, Jonatha Brooks, Dan Bern, Ari Hest and others on board, it's going to attract broader attention, and that's a good thing. Gratefully, these vocals, together with the fine  rootsy folk/rock settings, all work together with the songs and their emotional, artistic goal – illuminating the struggle of those struggling with the disorder, and raising moneys for research and treatment.

The deep and painful challenges of Autism, that keeps a person trapped inside an often healthy body but unable to react or connect on an emotional level to the world and people around them, are captured throughout. It's as if the person is forced into a game of mental "Hide and Seek" (sung 1by Kelly Flint), except the person you're looking for is right in front of you, hidden or trapped on the inside. "If It Were His Legs" (sung by Christina Courtin) suggest the obvious, that like other mental illnesses, if this were something treatable, physically recognizable, perhaps there would be greater understanding and compassion.

In "Diagnosis" (sung by Richard Julian), autism is compared with a person who's fallen down a well. "Has he given up hope, or does hope just make you madder" the song asks. Living with a person trapped inside by autism is like living in a "House on Fire" (sung by Dar Williams), while "Afraid (My Brother's Cries)" (sung by Teddy Geiger) addresses this order's impact on siblings.

Focused on raising awareness as much as money it seems, "Sing SOS" draws on the experience and insight of John O'Neil, whose New York Times series about his autistic son James won a Pulitzer Prize-nominated series. Collaborating with Fried and Shoshkes, the writers and singers from the band The Cucumbers, who perform "The Shiny House," they seek to bring "Understanding" (sung by Marshall Crenshaw) that "there's a boy locked away" on the inside, so that the child is "not tossed away."

Many of us have been touched by someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which impacts one child in a hundred. From mild Asperger's to more debilitating forms of the illness, the reality of the disorder can stop a family in its tracks and leave folk tending to a child with only modest hopes of improvement. As "Treatment" (sung by Ari Hest) suggests, it's like praying for a miracle, and as "Day After Day" (sung by Jackson Browne and Valerie Carter) reveals about tending to an afflicted child, "nothing's every brought me so much happiness, nothing's ever caused me so much pain."

But there is some chance of some improvement, some recovery. "Early intervention and dedicated, relentless treatment can have a genuinely transforming effect," says O'Neil in the disc's P.R. "We want to bring listeners inside an experience that is so hard to see and so hard to understand. Autism has understandably been called an 'invisible epidemic.' We hope to make it tangible."

And "Sing SOS" does just that. But such awareness, such a commitment to "relentless treatment" has to shake us from our apathy. As Dan Bern and Mike Viola sing in "It's Time," it's time for doctors, medical care professionals, families, and our culture at large to increase our understanding of this challenging illness and work to make the world better for the individuals and their families for whom this is a life altering reality.

"Songs of the Spectrum" is available for a $15 digital download at www.singsos.org, and the CD can be ordered there for $20, but it's also available at iTunes and Amazon. Moneys go to help three national organizations – Autism Speaks, the Autism Society, and Easter Seals – as well as three located in the NYC area.

We've all bought a candy bar or a CD for a good cause, knowing we'd never eat it or listen. The delightful thing about this record is that not only does it bring needed attention to a very important and moving health crisis that affects a great number of our families, but it's also a great listen. These are catchy songs, played well by talented players. Sad of course in dealing with the disappointments, but it's joyful and positive too, as we try to "get these kids some help."

UPDATE: John O'Neil, one of the albums artists, sent a note informing United Church News that SOS is sharing funds raised with about 50 grassroots organizations as well as those mentioned in the article. They have invited all nonprofits serving the ASD community to register as beneficiaries; purchasers can choose who gets the money from a dropdown menu on the order page. Also, for the month of April they're offering the download on a donate-what-you-will - minimum $1 - basis.


The Rev. Brian Q. Newcomb is Senior Minister at David's UCC in Kettering, Ohio, and a long-time music critic published in Billboard, CCM Magazine, Paste, The Riverfront Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, among others.