DBT #216 Sarah Morris - Here's To You
With the majority of the work behind me with the GRFF Songwriter Contest, I knew I needed to get back on my routine and share an album I'm listening to. While I still might post the 1968 Dylan cover album "Any Day Now" by Joan Baez, not today. I recently imported it and it's been in heavy rotation in the car when my wife is with me and of course one of my rules is that it needs to be on Bandcamp; instead I picked a May released album I bought from a friend Sarah Morris. Well a friend enough digitally who I once booked for a house concert which fell through because of Covid; but I did get a chance to talk to her at FARM.
Regular blog readers might have noticed Sarah before, this would be her eighth appearance. Funny I can picture myself like Stephen Colbert announcing Sarah's back and she sit down and flashes that wonderful cheery smile of hers that you can find on her unique YouTube channel's Show "Toilet Tunes"
"Here's To You" is described by my favorite reviewer David Franklin as
It’s been a while since Sarah Morris’ music passed under my pen, but good things come to those who wait, as they say, and Here’s To You is proof of that. Last time out, when writing about Hearts in Need of Repair I waxed lyrical about her voice, so let’s begin there. Sarah has a rare vocal gift, blessed with a voice that is as expressive and agile at one end of the spectrum as the other.
Her music generally errs toward delicate and understated folk sprinkled with the accessibility and ease of pop, a style that perfectly showcases the rich, warm, relaxed tones of her voice, a quality that has more than once drawn comparison to the likes of Norah Jones, which is high praise indeed. But as “You Are (Champagne on a Wednesday)” shows, her delivery is just as gorgeous, just as controlled, and just as confident when the pace picks up, and she heads vocally into the sort of sonic realms where Joni Mitchell made her name.
But an album is more than just a voice. Here, once again, the quality of the songwriting is knock-out, from the intimate and hushed “You + I”, which sounds like a whispered, late-night conversation, to the shimmering and seductive “The Longest Night,” and from the staggeringly fantastic “Staggering” to the dreamscape drifts of “Come Back,” you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a Best of…compilation rather than a regular collection of songs.
It’s a triumph. An album of space and restraint, any note played, every word uttered feels perfectly and purposely placed. The album is a beautiful blend of groove and grace, intimacy and entertainment, fun, and feeling. What more could you ask for? What indeed?
Yes it's a little rare that I share the whole review, but like I said I love how David writes.
I find the sultry intimate pop sounds as both relaxing friend or a refreshing walk on an autumn morning. Let's take a walk through the songs:
1) Here's To You
Title track starts out your sultry journey with the very first lines... David hit on the comparison to Norah Jones.
Pin up your hair kinda fancy like
The nape of your neck on display
Slip on a dress with a skirt
that sways
At your knees
That plays
In the early autumn breeze
The one that’s saying
Everything everything everything’s changing
In subtle shifts
All of the neighbors, would you do me a favor? Put on
Something that makes you feel like dancing
Like a ticket stub in
My jacket pocket
Sometimes I’m lucky and
My fingers find it
On a cold spring afternoon
When it’s nice to have a little proof
Less a plea, more of a promise
Come back
No strings, the terms made clear
Come back
Should you grow weary of the constant motion
Come back
My darling I will be here
