Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin
Sarah Morris’ latest full length album Hearts in
Need of Repair marks a new high point in the career of one of the country’s
best singer/songwriters working today. The Minneapolis based artist has
established a reputation as one of the more probing, vulnerable songwriters
working today thanks to a mix of her revealing poetic lyrics and an
intelligent, outside the box approach to her songs that, nonetheless,
demonstrates a thorough understanding and mastery of fundamentals. This third
album follows up 2013’s Ordinary Things well by reaffirming the virtues of that
sophomore effort, enlisting the same musical team to help bring things off, and
yet moves the needle closer to her peak than any preceding release. This award
winning songwriter and vocalist has amassed an impressive following for such a
young career and there’s little question that Hearts in Need of Repair will
garner her even more respect and followers.
The title song is a piece of music with immense
subtlety. There are a number of subtle tempo shifts built into the arrangement
and drummer Zachary Schmidt handles these changes with a deft sense of timing
and just the right touch. The mix of acoustic and electric guitar is, likewise,
understated yet assertive enough to further shape the song. “Good at Goodbye”
is a clever bit of songwriting with a more pronounced country music influence
coming through. Some might deem it somewhat predictable, but discerning
listeners will instead hear a pleasing inevitability in Morris’ writing that
illustrates her mastery of the form. Her lyrics also traffic in a number of
specific details that gives the song a more intimate edge. “Cheap Perfume” has
some of the same specificity driving its writing and a moodier character
overall while showing some of the same musical influences. A bluesier spirit
fills the song “Falling Over” and the same penchant for concrete details
distinguishing “Good at Goodbye” comes across even stronger here. Morris,
likewise, fills the song with a wise gravitas that, as well, never fails to
musically deliver. The slide guitar laced through the track is particularly effective.
The pensive intimacy of “Empty Seat” elicits a level
of delicacy from Morris’ voice that gets under the lyric’s skin and there are
some remarkable lines. It’s one of Morris’ finest moments in her career so far,
never mind just this album, and the hard won experience fueling its
observations is exquisitely expressed. “Shelter or the Storm” has some of the
same swampy ambiance we heard with “Falling Over” with a more memorable vocal
melody that demands lung power from Morris unlike any other song on Hearts in
Need of Repair. Her wont for a probing love song continues with the starkly
beautiful “Nothing Compares” and she wonderfully avoids the tired tropes common
to the style without ever compromising what it wants to say. The steel guitar
and piano duet coloring the finale “Confetti” is a good match for the customary
acoustic guitar and dramatically arranged drumming, but it’s the considered
tempo and deeply felt vocal magic that makes this a real winner for her final
curtain. Hearts in Need of Repair is one of the finest exponents of the
singer/songwriter school in recent memory and Morris’ command over Americana
forms makes this a formidable listening experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment