Written by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin
Sarah Morris’ artful and tasteful blend of classic
country influences with folk inclinations is more than just window dressing for
the material on her third studio album Hearts in Need of Repair. She has an
authentic voice, both lyrically and musically, that never cheapens the style
with fanciful self-indulgence and, instead, utilizes traditional forms as her
vehicle with the utmost credibility. She is working with the same musical team
to make this eleven song collection come to life and co-producer Eric Blomquist
shows great creative chemistry with Morris’ talents that help weave a vivid
atmosphere around her work. Morris’ previous two releases definitely showed
tremendous promise but, with Hearts in Need of Repair, Morris’ promise comes
across as a fully realized thing and poises her for even greater recordings in
the future. This is undeniably her peak moment so far as a recording artist and
performer.
The album’s lead off is a title song that shows
immense subtlety while still touching an emotional nerve. While her musical
collaborators show an expert hand in weaving aching atmospherics, the true core
of this song and each of the following ten lies with Sarah Morris’ voice. She
conveys the lyrics with open hearted yearning and a sense of the heart’s
potential, but there’s genuine heartache underpinning her interpretation. “Good
at Goodbye” is a tune with more commercial potential and sounds cast in the
mold of classic country standards of yore. She never belabors this feel,
however, and while the lyric hinges around the pay off line in its chorus, it
still stands as a song that’s much more individual statement than by the
numbers or cookie cutter. “Cheap Perfume” is cast in much of the same mold but
lacks the same impactful chorus. The emphasis here seems to be more on invoking
atmospherics and, judged by that assumption, the song is a different sort of
success.
“Falling Over” is another song with commercial
potential despite the rustic instrumentation thanks to a powerful, immensely
soulful Morris vocal. Morris’ arrangements, spanning much of the album, give
listeners a virtual clinic for how to mix tasteful electric guitar lines into a
largely acoustic framework. The drumming is very important to the success of
these songs, as well, and “Falling Over” is no exception. “Empty Seat” is
definitely one of the more affecting numbers on Hearts in Need of Repair and
glows with both expansive, beyond her years wisdom alongside a deep forgiveness
for life’s unexpected and sometimes painful turns. “Shelter or the Storm”
simmers with muscular passion no other track on the album quite matches but
Morris wisely plays the song close to her vest and doesn’t serve up anything
sounding terribly out of sync with the surrounding songs. “Nothing Compares” is
a romantic, but equally realistic song about a relationship abiding all the
endless challenges, mundane and otherwise, that face making things work with
someone long term while the closer “Confetti” concludes Hearts in Need of
Repair in an elegiac, sophisticated, yet immensely accessible way. Few singer/songwriter
or Americana themed releases in 2017 rates as high as this and it’s Morris’
greatest moment yet as a recording artist/
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