Written by Laura Dodero, posted by blog admin
The third album from Minneapolis headquartered
singer/songwriter Sarah Morris, Hearts in Need of Repair, is an eleven song
outing outstripping her fine duo of previous releases and clearing the decks
for Morris’ future. Morris has wisely opted to work with many of the same
musical talents who made her first two studio albums sparkle with deeply felt
emotion and unquestionable artistry, but Morris and her creative partners
stretch even further with this album and raise the bar for this outstanding
recording artist. It is Morris’ first release since 2013’s Ordinary Things, but
Morris has been far from fallow over the last four years – she’s earned
respected awards and experienced meaningful chart success, but Hearts in Need
of Repair expands her artistic profile in a way those earlier fine releases did
not.
Her sensitivity for the material is on full display
with the first song and title track. “Hearts in Need of a Little Repair”, abbreviated
for the album title’s purposes, is one of the highlights on this release and
amply illustrates just how far she’s come since her debut. Her progress as a
vocalist is most notable with this song. The title cut has a less identifiable structure
than many of the album’s other more archly traditional tunes, but it proves not
to be any sort of impediment for her. “Good at Goodbye” moves her into that
aforementioned more traditional territory and shows off one of the album’s
across the board strengths in its memorable chorus. Morris, likewise, couldn’t
hardly have better accompaniment for this collection and one of the band’s peak
moments comes with their supporting performance on this tune. The spikes of
strong drumming and electric guitar in “Helium” give it a more of a rugged
texture that it would otherwise like while banjo carries much of the melody. It
avoids the stereotypical frantic picking common to bluegrass but introducing
that musical voice to the collection makes for one of its more memorable
moments.
The blues comes out most strongly on the songs “Falling
Over” and the later “Shelter or the Storm”. The former is easily the more
delicately wrought of the tune, more low-fi in character, while the latter has
a light blues rock bite that makes it stand out from the pack. “Course
Correction” has some country rock influences you can hear in its electric
guitar work, but it’s an element she backs off during the verses where the
focus falls more squarely on her vocals. The same shifting tempo that defined
the title song returns with this number and has a positive effect on the
overall result. “Empty Seat” is note perfect. No joke. There isn’t a single
moment in the arrangement or lyrics that don’t get over with listeners in a big
way and it should exert broad based appeal thanks to its excellence. It’s
easily the best turn on a great album. A final exceptional moment arrives with
the album closer “Confetti” and it has the effect of a leaf wafting to the
ground – profoundly graceful and full of the same aural lyricism defining the
release overall. Hearts in Need of Repair is a profoundly moving work, both
musically and lyrically, and the center of it all is one of the nation’s best
musical artists working on the scene today.
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