Grace Morrison’s latest album Daughter is loaded with the fine combo of singer-songwriter sensibility and sweet country roots music she is know for.. Morrison’s smooth vocal spreads evenly over her support players, infusing each song with her girlish personality as they offer purty melodies that rise high and shine.
Title track “Daughter” jumps into action as Morrison’s candy apple voice charms the ear and the music beneath her voice brims with shiny pedal steel, perky banjo, and a tender lead guitar. A touch of percussion, meanwhile, keeps the beat enchanting. With this tuft of country sweet instrumentation beneath her voice, Morrison completes the vibe with an earnestness in her rangy vocal that makes her voice another flower in this tight bouquet.
“Lone Star” unfurls with tender pedal steel prettiness. Over that melody line Morrison finesses more sensitive feeling out of the song. She coaxes the heart out of the lyrics with just the right amount of hushed vocal. Morrison knows how to release just the right amount of voice at once. She also finds the perfect place between melody and rhythm to plant her ever growing vocal presence.
“Alice” gets its core strength from an ever growing groove, light piano chords combining with light drums and bass. Over that growing hump of movement, Morrison builds her voice into an endearing melody. Her chorus, influenced more by pop than singer-songwriter sentiment, is catchy as hell and it takes hold the listener’s ears with its strong lift.
A tumbling, circular groove keeps “Free” in perpetual motion. Its shuffle groove might motivate one to dance a two step at the barn dance while listening to Morrison’s heartfelt vocal glide over the soundscape. A pedal steel dances its melody around the shuffle groove as Morrison marries her voice perfectly to the running melodic grace just below. Putting everything into its proper place makes songcraft much more intricate than it might seem on first listen.
Morrison cos her way into “Small Town Laments” and lovely coos they are. Her intro sets up the vibe for the rest of the song. Here, her girlish chirp reinforces her vulnerable lyrics about how visible we are when we are living in a small world. Balancing an appreciation for the quiet life with the feeling of all eyes on me is masterfully handled. Morrison’s ambivalence toward her rustic life comes across well.
“Things You Already Know” finds Morrison offering more of her lovely coos, dovetailing her voice, acoustic guitar snaps, and a fine counter balance from herself on a lower notes backing vocal. This songcraft makes her song feel like a perfectly cut diamond, a shape that is logical, one corner leading to another even side. Art and symmetry come together to let Morrison do some fun stuff with her voice.
A country blues number with an electric and acoustic guitar mesh, “Sloppy” makes one feel the struggle this song is about. Morrison asserts herself here, making herself more forceful, a woman on a personal quest. Her voice brings each image to life as she builds in firmness and aggression, ending each with a sustain laden chorus that tugs even more strongly on the ear. Her voice and the guitars underneath also manage to create something that sounds like a hit song on Adult Alternative radio.
Morrison makes her strongest statement on “Put The Bottle Down.” A tale of someone who needs to stop hitting the sauce, this singer-songwriter is at her feistiest listing her gripes. With a flaming, fuzzy lead guitar line backing her, Morrison belts out her emotional zeal, her beautiful voice more rocking and urgent here. Moreover, she also plays all of the electric guitar until producer Jon Evans whips out a solo phrase.
Morrison belts with even more intensity during “Woman Like That.” Over a spirited groove and alongside a sweet, greasy pedal steel, her natural beauty of a voice switches from forceful moments to pauses to more quiet sustains, displaying the masterful control this singer owns. She also fills out the elastic song with her own layer of inflection, tender and hurt yet protesting at the same time.
Morrison breathes thoughtful life into “The Edge Of I Am,” coaxing plenty of feeling out of this quiet singer-songwriter ballad. With a slight assertion of her voice during the chorus, she makes this sensitive tune even more engaging. It is that effect of putting the right amount of her voice in the right places that add to her artistry. Here, Morrison’s ability to suddenly widen her voice keeps things humming with a vibrant twist.
Close out track “Mothers” celebrates Morrison’s new lifestyle after delivering her first child. She develops her theme at a considerate pace, pausing here and there to offer coos, sustains, and changes in dynamics. She builds this piece up, vocal part by vocal part, until the parts become a strong, stand alone work of significant expression.
Morrison’s Daughter album slowly yet tunefully reveals her understanding of her new place in this world. Becoming a mother has reminded her that she was once a daughter. These songs are the signposts along her new journey. Morrison has also developed her art as a singer-songwriter to a point where she can express her thoughts and feelings on this subject with clarity and purpose. Morrison has come a long way toward creating the kind of music that must accompany her thoughts and words. Featuring Matthias Bossi on drums ad Lloyd Maines on that brilliant unwieldy pedal steel, producer Jon Evans has each note ringing out clear and true in his Studio at Brick Hill.
