SALLY ANNE MORGAN
Carrying (Thrill Jockey)
A delicate solo banjo instrumental, Beekeeper, opens this beguiling new album by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sally Anne Morgan. The influence of traditional Appalachian folk music permeates Carrying but Morgan’s arrangements are contemporary and complex, with unsettling cross rhythms that make pieces like Awake both familiar and fresh.
The only criticism of the album is not the set of songs and their presentation, but the production. Morgan’s voice is similar to a North Carolinan Sandy Denny, with undulating phrases that suddenly tip off the end of a note. With a very homespun aesthetic underpinning the production, Morgan’s voice is sometimes lost in the mix.
Otherwise, the performances of Morgan and her band are subtly hypnotic, in an almost psychedelic way, as once the arrangements are settled on, there’s very little variation in the playing. When there is, as on stand out closer Song For Arthur, the effect is startling.
