Morganway - 'Kill the Silence'

This is their 3rd studio album and it opens with a monster of a song. ‘Don’t Turn the Lights on Yet’ starts quietly with female singer SJ Mortimer intoning the first of the album’s well-crafted lyrics, with just a hint of a Dolores inflection in her vocals, before an absolutely massive drum beat kicks in and the whole band rock up a storm together, building up to a howling climax. Great stuff.

The joyous ‘Boy on a Train’ showcases all the aspects that make Morganway great. It starts with acoustic guitar and violin in a style that brings to mind Lonesome Jubilee-era John Mellencamp. Co-vocalist Callum Morgan sings most of it but SJ joins in with one of the verses and they both work together very harmoniously. There are six performers in the band, so there’s also keyboards and bass in the mix and it really is a glorious radio-friendly noise.

‘Feels Like Letting Go’ is a pure americana-style foot-stomper featuring SJ on vocals, while the band’s secret weapon Nicole J Terry delivers the main riff on fiddle and it’s definitely more “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” than Sharon Corr. SJ is the songbird again on ‘The Edge of the Sun’ with a plaintive vocal over a sparse piano and fiddle arrangement which is augmented by some sonic-sounding spacy guitar work.

The band definitely seem to hit peak Americana when Callum is on vocal duties. He takes the lead on ‘Goddam Time’ and also ‘Halfway Tonight’ but everyone pitches in on the backing vocals for that one and the violin and keyboards are again prominent in a jaunty little number. ‘Devils Canyon’ is another undisguised slab of Americana – well, there are no canyons in the UK – but SJ handles this one with relish and it sounds as American as hot chicken but this time with some raunch sauce on the side.

The foreboding title track ‘Kill the Silence’ takes it all down a notch again and a gently rolling bass line builds a lightly menacing southern gothic atmosphere, suitably augmented by spooky fiddle and ethereal guitar. Other quiet moments include the beautiful musical choreography of the intoxicating ballad ‘Surrender’ and ‘We Sing’ which features Alyssa Bonagura as a guest. Alyssa is a young Nashville singer-songwriter with one foot in North West Britain. She graduated from The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts - presented with her diploma by Sir Paul McCartney no less – and, as a one-off, she even performed as a member of Pete Wyllie’s The Mighty Wah in support of the other living Beatle Ringo Starr.

The Fleetwood Mac similarity is prominent in two absolutely cracking songs towards the end of the album. ‘All the Signs Are There’ actually starts with a gentle Springsteen ‘I’m on Fire’ drum beat then adds mournful background violin and some absolutely delicious vocal interplay before building in some gentle rhythmic chanting that creates an atmosphere vaguely reminiscent of Mac’s ‘Big Love’.

The other is ‘I Feel the Rain’, which is an absolute monster. The song has a very fine bass groove and fiddle riff but SJ’s vocal is the pinnacle. The lady must have really been feeling that rain, as she delivers a passionate and powerful performance that builds and builds and dominates a very fine tune that also features a frenzied guitar solo in an epic denouement.

This really is a very strong album and despite the various comparisons, Morganway have their own identity and enough variety to make repeat listens a voyage of further discovery and a gift that keeps on giving.

The band are currently on a record store album launch promo trip but will headline their own conventional UK tour throughout April. It should be a cracker and Rockfiend will be at the Glasgow, Drygate gig to do a live review.

Kill the Silence? Enjoy it.