Play 90 second soundbite of 'Little Light' @ 'CD quality'
Morris cites Bob Dylan, Neil Finn, Ray LaMontagne and Ryan Adams as being influential to his aching cause. Morris may be influenced by the aforementioned but in no way does he try to copy of emulate. Kris Morris sounds like a pretty up-front kinda guy and his vocal delivery is similarly up-front and gutsy. His voice is as individual as it gets really; in fact, Morris has quite a brash style which is adequately sensitive and flexible to bring out most of the 'soul' in his songs but just occasionally Morris lacks a tad in 'feeling', although he still manages to impart sufficient heart to make it work - I kinda hear the passion of the songs but not always the emotion in the words.
Kris Morris is a bit of an acquired taste; as a songwriter he's pretty much got it right but I can't help but feel there's more to come yet, more to get out of his voice. The five tracks here all find the vocals very much to the fore - perhaps a bit more careful melding of voice and guitar would soften the overall feel just enough to make a big difference. But hey, those are just my personal thoughts - and it don't mean jack at the end of the day.
'Little Light EP' is an interesting and pretty likeable piece of work that errs on the country-blues side of folk. Morris keeps things pretty stripped down and simple which allows the words to be heard and understood. It's an honest but simply crafted work and as an introduction to the troubadour that is Kris Morris it works just fine.
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