2014 – Forty Below
Records
By Phillip Smith;
Aug. 9, 2014
Ephemeral,
the debut album from singer/songwriter Sam Morrow is anything but
ephemeral. Before I had finished
listening to the first of ten songs, “War”, I knew this album was something
special. Singing country-flavored roots
songs with a sharp edge of truth, Morrow’s voice reminds me a bit of Eddie
Vedder’s. Morrow delves deep into
his own experiences, revisiting the often unpleasant obstacles life blindly tosses
around like little grenades.
Setting the tone for the rest of the album, “War”, invites
the listener into Morrow’s melancholy world with despairing lyrics about
a husband and father who looks to the bottle for happiness. Morrow shows great range as a vocalist
and writer in the heart wrenchingly beautiful song, “Old Soul”, about the hurt
of lost love, and the self-destructive thoughts which go along with it. “Run” seems to pick up where “Old Soul”
leaves off, leaving thoughts of self-destruction behind and replacing them with
feelings of anger and declarations of love. I’m really drawn to its haunting melody, fortified
with a cool drum cadence and symphonic strings.
In a Tom Waits fashion, Morrow reexamines the broken
relationship with booze, after two years of sobriety, in “December”, a song of
reconstruction, remembering and longing.
This softly played guitar and violin tune tugs on my heart strings.
Ephemeral is
such a beautifully constructed album of brutal honesty, I can’t get enough of
it. Morrow shines as a writer and
performer, and I highly recommend this album.
