Considering the huge success of James Morrison’s first
two albums, Undiscovered and Songs For You, Truths For Me, I was
expecting his newest music to be good. I was wrong: The Awakening is fantastic and just as “stunning” as the advert
claims, with a whole new sound far more soulful and beautiful than I had
imagined. The songs capture a huge amount of emotion and look to new beginnings
and feelings of hope, portraying something of a turning point in the artist’s
life. It’s no surprise, then, that they should be so different from those of
Morrison’s earlier albums. The fresher soul sound is influenced, says Morrison,
by legendary artists like “Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding”, though
there is an individual twist that catapults the music straight into the 21st
century.
In My Dreams, the
first track on the album, is a fantastic opener which sets the scene for things
to come. Straight away it powerfully conveys the hopeful feeling that is
infused throughout the album. It starts gently with some light guitar and
vocals and then builds up to be lively and brilliantly catchy. It is followed
by 6 Weeks, a song full of soul with
backing vocals reminiscent of classic Motown. Morrison’s voice lends itself
perfectly to this and the whole song is so incredibly likeable I could listen
to it for hours!
The first single taken from the album, I Won’t Let You Go, is one of the best:
emotional to the core and empathising with feelings familiar to all of us. This
gives the song great meaning and had me very much ‘into it’; I don’t doubt that
it will be a favourite among radio stations and home music players alike. It is
definitely a single that will not disappoint.
Chart sensation Jessie J makes an appearance on Up, lending her wonderfully strong voice
to the mid-album track. Morrison has
had great success with a previous collaboration, with Nelly Furtado, and so it
comes as no surprise that the winning idea should be repeated. This time,
however, there is a great difference in what we hear. Up is altogether more eerie in its verses, and consequently the
chorus stands out due to a difference in tone: it is filled with what is now
very familiar on this album, hope. It’s a wonderful distinction and allows for much
expression of emotion. Morrison and Jessie J are a fantastic pairing: their
voices are so dissimilar that they lend themselves brilliantly to the sharp
contrasts of the song.
Following the fantastic first few tracks of the album are
some great soulful songs, some with catchy beats and some very gentle; so easy
to listen to you’d be forgiven for losing yourself in a daydream and completely
forgetting the time! While the middle of the album does not really have any ‘stand-out’
tracks, it’s still very enjoyable to listen to.
We then come to the title track, The Awakening. Gentle guitar and soft vocals start it off, and so
much feeling is conveyed in the first few bars it’s hard to believe that it
gets even more emotional. It sounds like such a personal song and seems to represent
a turning point in what Morrison aims to express throughout the album. Here,
it’s as if his hopes are finally being fulfilled – something I was waiting for right
up until this point! It’s like the light at the end of the tunnel has been reached
and it’s wonderful to listen to. This is succeeded by a rather romantic and
melodic song - Right By Your Side -
that is quite beautiful and sweet. Then comes the song which is my personal
favourite on the album, One Life. I
think the reason I love it as much as I do is because it seems to summarise the
whole of The Awakening with a melody so
full of wonderful emotion that I fell right into that feeling of bliss: nothing
could go wrong while this track was playing. Alas, however, after just over
three minutes it had to end... if it weren’t for the ‘skip back’ button on the
music player! Yes, this track is that good!
The album closes with a bonus track aptly named All Around the World as, lyrically, it
includes everyone in the feeling of hope on the album that so far has seemed
much more personal and individual. It is a fantastic, upbeat finish to what I
have found to be a brilliant album.
The Awakening
is something fresh and new from James Morrison. The bluesy, soulful sound he
has chosen to adopt is a stroke of genius, allowing him to move away from his
older albums and create something fresh, new and exciting. There is one thing
left to ask: how will he adapt his music next?
The Awakening is
out now, as is first single, I Won’t Let
You Go.
EW
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