JAMES VINCENT McMORROW plays the Great Hall Friday (March 11) at 9:15 pm as part of CMW. See listing. Rating: NNNN
You’ll want to get your headphones out for James Vincent McMorrow’s debut album, critically acclaimed last year in Ireland. Bon Iver and Iron and Wine – with whom McMorrow has shared a stage – aren’t bad reference points for his sensitive, atmospheric soul-folk.
Recorded solo by McMorrow in 2009 over a period of five months in a house by the sea, the textured result leaves the impression of more than one man at work. If I Had A Boat opens a cappella and swells like water, incorporating guitars, drums, banjo and piano shuffling foot-stomper Sparrow And The Wolf beckons with a memorable chorus and From The Woods!! takes an unexpected turn.
It’s all quietly melodramatic, but at the core is McMorrow’s beautiful, reverb-drenched falsetto delivering real emotion. It’ll be interesting to see how he delivers the songs live.
Top track: Sparrow And The Wolf