Rae Morris - Unguarded
Commended by Noah and the Whale, Chris Martin, and Haim, Rae Morris has garnered tons of attention this year. It’s pretty darn good attention as well, her EP’s have evoked flattering comparisons to Lorde, Laura Marling and Cat Power. Lest we forget that Morris is a unique artist in her own right, she’s gone and graced us with a 12 track debut album.
Released on the 26/01/2015, Unguarded is a slickly produced album of contrasts. Steely vocals convey deep emotion, house synths meet piano balladry, and romance clashes with familial relationships. Regarding the latter dissimilarity, Morris impresses with the scope of her lyricism. It’s refreshing to hear a pianist-singer-songwriter write about stuff other than heartbreak (seemingly a legal requirement of her genre). Morris sings about her relationship with herself, and she does it well. Do You Even Know? is the crowning moment of Unguarded - understated beats and cascading synths encase a song (written in Morris’ shed) about feeling misunderstood.
Despite airtight production from Ariel Rechtshaid and a collaboration with Fryars in Cold, it is difficult to shake off Morris’ assertion that this is a just a simple coming-of-age tale. Rare honesty exposes the 22 year old’s dealings with growing up. Songs such as Not Knowing eschew enigma for frank lyricism (‘this story exposes all my fears of not knowing’). Although this strain of honestly runs throughout the entire album, it sees a weak spot with Love Again. Track no.5 veers very close to Morris’ feature on Clean Bandit’s similarly named, and similarly uninspiring Up Again. The featherweight dance track seems at odds with Unguarded’s soaring choruses and intricate melodies. Luckily, these are the defining elements of Unguarded - an admirable album that proves that an endorsement from Noah and the Whale is definitely not as boring as it sounds.
7/10
