Review Summary: Gather the family, it's time to feast on taters round the fire!
A singer/songwriter that lives alone in a house in some secluded location is getting to be something of a cliché these days. After it was done by Bon Iver, The Antlers, and countless others it has lost a certain amount of the magic, the allure, that it used to have. The thought of some heartwrenched folk singer sitting alone writing music about their problems has simply lost a portion of the intimacy that it used to have. Early in the Morning doesn’t necessarily suffer from this “false sincerity” luckily enough, even though McMorrow cooked up the album sitting in a house on a beach in Ireland.
If I had to take a stab at what kind of person McMorrow is, I’d bet that he was sort of a family man. It’s not necessarily because of any lyrical themes (though they’re certainly there), but instead the album just has one of those feels. Warm, inviting, friendly, maybe even a bit nostalgic. McMorrow has one of those velvety soft voices which croons, wails, and rocks it’s way through eleven tracks of homestyle Americana/Folk. Really, the album sounds like it could have been recorded in the American Midwest if it didn’t have some untraceable ingredient. I, for one, think that the secret ingredient is potatoes. Lots and lots of potatoes. An a
ssload of potatoes.
If the album were more innovative, it would definitely deserve a higher rating. But, alas, it ends up being Ireland’s version of Bon Iver. With fairly strong influences from The National and Arcade Fire to Sufjan Stevens and Bob Dylan though, is there really a problem with wearing your influences on your sleeve? Songs like
We Don’t Eat are pure bliss to listen to, simmering like coals and shooting up at some points without leaving the confines of the feeling, something I’d attribute to his jazz and blues influences that walk hand in hand with Americana. Other songs like
Sparrow and the Wolf roll along with purpose and intention, all with a remarkably bright sound.
Overall, Early in the Morning is a fantastic album. While it does suffer at certain points from being too “inside the box” (ahem,
This Old Dark Machine), there really is enough good material on the album to check it out if you’re the least bit interested in folk music, Americana, or Irish people. With a debut LP this strong, McMorrow will have a hell of a time making his sophomore effort, but by God I’m sure it will be just as good if not better.
