Grace Morrison – Releases Daughter – the Coming-of-Age album

Grace Morrison, released her third album this month continuing her journey as folk-country-pop singer-sogwriter bringing a fresh stripped down album which moves from the personal to creatuve effortlessly. Inspired by her previous writing with Lori McKenna, Grace and producer Jon Evans brought a team of seasoned sessions musician to create an amazing soundscape to Grace’s perfectly crafted songs.

Grace opens her album with her semi-autobiographic track, Daughter, reflections of the journey so far and lessons learnt that bring you full circle and leads you home to your roots and upbringing. Across the album there is plenty of light and shade and switches from mid-tempo rhythm driven tracks to smooth ballads with layers of harmonies. The album hangs together as a reflective personal story of the trials of tribulations, growing pains, challenges and coming of age and stepping into your power. Tracks paint a picture of various scenarios with a mix on picture painting and Grace’s more abstract lyrical style.

TRACK LIST

Daughter

Lone Star

Alice

Free

Small Town Lament

Things You Already Know

Sloppy

Put down the bottle

Just Loving You

Woman Like That

The Edge of I Am

Mothers

 

Alice gives an account of a high school crush and looking back like Alice through the glass and reflecting on those days making out and what could have been.

Small Town Lament paints a vivid picture of small town living and how claustrophobic it can be growing up in a place where everyone knows you and news travels fast about any change “whether you’re up and down”.

Things you already know was inspire by 90’s music and particularly tracks like Boyz II Men, Water Runs Dry. Grace delivers a heartfelt stripped back ballad with layered harmonies about how we don’t say what we might need to, to those we love most.

“I hope you never doubt that I’m here for the long haul

sometimes you gotta say it all, just cos I don’t say it enough it don’t make it so

I don’t say but I hope you can feel it, oh I should say things you already know”

 

Sloppy and Put The Bottle Down show two different sides of our relationship with alcohol and the consequences of alcohol inside a relationship. Two different observations delivered in very different styles.

The tracks move from mid temp to ballads and back again, delivering a smooth but satisfying journey through the moods of the album. Grace’s distinctive voice and unique observations and lyrical approach encourages the listener to press replay to get deeper into the narrative.

Easily my favourite track on the album is Just Loving You. A beautiful ballad about new life coming into the world, with nothing to offer, no judgement, no prejudices but coming into the world “Just Loving You”. Exquisitely written and sung.

Grace describes this album as her stepping into her power as a solo performer after some years taking different roles on the music scene. “For a long time, the stage was the one place I felt complete control and comfort. But without me realizing it, I started to hide again. I had a 5 piece band that imploded gloriously, and I remember thinking, “without this band, I can’t perform. I’m not good enough solo”. 2020 forced Grace to perform on the internet and write by herself. During this time, she had an epiphany and rediscovered how invincible she used to feel as a teenager on stage. Channelling that she wrote The Edge of I Am.

“My mother walked a crooked mile, one crooked man stole her smile,

when I looked down all I could see we don’t have a right to set ourselves free

she didn’t know that time would run but I’m on the edge of I am,

I’m on the edge of I can”

 

Recorded at The Studio at Brick Hill and produced by Jon Evans, with Lloyd Maines and Matthias Bossi and guest vocalist Teddy Matthews, this new album for Grace definitely fuses folk and country with a sprinkling of pop to deliver this stirring coming of age album by Grace Morrison.

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Review written by Ann Kenney (twitter.com/annkenneysongs)