One admirable quality of a recording artist is an ability to
develop and build on a core sound which has been initially responsible for
turning heads. Upon release of her fourth album EDISON GLORIETTE, Jess Morgan
is one such artist with the vibes from the record suggesting the bravest and biggest
step to date. This Norwich-based singer-songwriter has made her name on the
national folk and acoustic circuit as a stylish solo act. An opportunity to
have a more varied instrument input has been grasped during the recording
progress on this latest release. The result is an absorbing collection of
eleven self-penned songs, never losing sight of Jess’s trademark slightly husky
vocals giving the sound a reassuring warm feel.
The music of Jess Morgan first crossed my path in spring
2013 when one of her many gigs came to town and this sealed an intent to casually
keep track of her across the wires, circuit and ever increasing world of social
media connectivity. The ability to put to song many an engaging story has long
been an innate trait of Jess and wide reaching evidence exists to re-enforce
this view on the new record.
Characters, life observations and deep inner thoughts are
the starting points for many of Jess’s songs and quite often in the past it has
been the live performance, with accompanying narrative, which truly allows them
to bloom. While Jess’s albums and shows are almost at one, the new record sparkles
with a sense of independence suggesting a reach out far from the gig sale. The
mood of the album indicates it is best savoured during one of life’s quieter
moments when you can let the overall vibes soothe you and full attention can be
paid to the literary content. To aid this process, the record does make great
strides in the melody department, an area work-in-progress across her back
catalogue. While there perhaps is not a song as strong as her finest composition
to date in my opinion, ‘Freckles in the
Sun’, the overall balance of the eleven tracks as an entity enhances the
album’s accessibility and sustainability.
The word Americana has been banded around this album in the run up to its
release, but the label contemporary roots sits more comfortably with the liberal
use of harmonica and the welcome twang via the Dobro clearly being advancements
in the instrumental stakes. Labels aside, Jess continues to make music the
right way and her growing popularity aided by the successful crowd funding
campaign preluding the album release continues to reflect well on her hard work
and talent.
These two attributes are an essential tandem to success and
throw in Jess’s open response to sharing her artistic flair, the blossoming of
her recording career has been a shoe in for a long time. The continual full
length playing of EDISON GLORIETTE has been a satisfying experience and this is
set to continue especially when an opportunity to catch her live again presents
itself. The stand out track award for this album is going to be shared evenly
between all eleven songs to reflect the raising of the consistency bar and
fully embracing the strong album concept.
Jess Morgan succeeds in making this singer-songwriter thing
a breeze and has rewarded those who have supported her over the years with a
record of true quality. Of course this further opens the door to new admirers
and if you wish to soak up the emotive tones of many songs pulsating with real
life feeling, EDISON GLORIETTE should head your way.
www.jessmorgan.co.uk