Never an artist to rest on her laurels, Jess Morgan has not
been fazed by this latest short release being hot on the heels of last year’s
album LANGA LANGA and firmly decided it was a right time to commit a number of
new songs to a recorded format. So in between the end of a busy year and a new
one beginning with a month long US trip, THE BOURNEMOUTH EP was born with an
uncanny resemblance to what Jess was about to experience on this hop across the
pond. This is by far the most Americana tinged set of songs grouped together by
Jess who continues to grow her presence generally within the UK folk scene.
Now, the choice is simple to purchase this collection,
either get five tracks by ordering from the artist friendly platform Bandcamp
or four from that universally available download store. The fifth or unreleased
track is succinctly titled ‘American Song
(unreleased field recording)’ and assumedly takes its influence from the
trip where Jess called at New York and Nashville on her way to performing at
the prestigious Folk Alliance showcase in Kansas City. Like its four accompanying
tracks on the extended version, the recording perfectly captures the elegant
tones of Jess’s sumptuous vocals delving straight into the heart of her
outpourings of song writing observational wisdom.
If anything, Jess has dug a little deeper into her vocal
repertoire than on previous records with this time her hearty whispering vocals
revealing a touch more soul and host of sunken treasure. The defining mood of
these five tracks is the heady mix of an intimate house concert with the
sophistication of a studio arrangement. The major winner is the listener who
opens the door and peeks into a sonic sanctuary for a brief 20 minutes.
Existing fans of Jess will be familiar with one of the chosen tracks slated for
this record as she has bravely opted to slightly rehash probably her finest
song to date. ‘Freckles in the Sun (2015)’
is already cast as a quality number and the tinkering has put a bright new
sheen on a substantial piece of song writing excellence.
Elsewhere on all formats of the EP, the three new tracks evoke
memories of an enchanting charm with ‘Time
Machine’ being elegantly crafted on the piano before melting into its luscious
mode of consumption. ‘Simple Mantra’
sees a little harmonica added to a subtle gentle guitar led piece, while
opening tune ‘Down in Flames’ has a
laid back jazzy feel to its make up coupled with a lot more twang than we are
used to from Jess’s recordings. The sum of these gilt-edged components fully justifies
the impromptu decision Jess made to go ahead with THE BOURNEMOUTH EP and there
will be no complaints from her growing list of admirers.
Available soon from here
