Album Review:"Higher Than Here" by James Morrison


 

Hey guys!

I love being surprised.
Of course, I prefer a good surprise over something like bad news which often come in the form of a surprise.

My favourite way of being surprised is when a musician absolutely surprises you.
When there's a musician you've heard about many, many times, but they've never really grabbed your attention and then they release another album and you can't help but listen to it on repeat.

I'm excited to review such surprising album for you today.

Artist: James Morrison
Title: Higher Than Here
Genre: Pop, Soul
Label: Island // Universal
Release: 30th October 2015
HITS rating: 8.5/10

James Morrison is a singer/songwriter from Rugby, Warwickshire, UK.
He's been making pop-rock/soul music for years now and got to celebrate a lot of hits.

With his debut single "You Give Me Something", Morrison landed a massive hit in Europe, Australia and Japan.
His later released debut album took over the UK Album Charts.
 The success continued when James won a Brit Award for Best British Male in 2007.

So far he collaborated with acts such as Nelly Furtado and Jason Mraz.

Albums:
 Undiscovered (2006)
Songs For You, Truths For Me (2007)
The Awakening (2011)
Higher Than Here (2015)


Here's my review of Morrison's latest album.


Tracklist:
1) Demons
2) Stay Like This
3) Heaven To A Fool
4) Right Here
5) Reach Out
6) We Can
7) Too Late For Lullabies
8) Something Right
9) Easy Love
10) I Need You Tonight
11) Just Like A Child
12) Higher Than Here
13) In The Shadow Of A Dream
14) Naked With You
15) Lonely People (Ill Blu feat. James Morrison)

Opener and first single "Demons" seems to showcase all main elements James Morrison presents on this album. There's the slightly folky drum beat in contrast with the pop atmosphere the song is focused on. Morrison controls the track with his voice which shines in a warm light, his timbre sounds very soulful and draws attention to the catchiness of "Demons".

Track number four, "Right Here", gets edgier, speeds up and is one of those songs you blast in your car. The souly background vocals harmonize with James Morrison's raspy and warm voice. The singer knows how to lead you through a track without boring you, his vocals vary from soft and calm to very raspy and even high at points.

"Too Late For Lullabies" is a very soul-y song. There are a swinging rhythm section, light backing vocals and emotional lyrics. It's a ballad but not one of those dark ones, it still

The amount of instruments you'll hear on this album is brilliant; once you think the track only consists of piano and guitar, Morrison throws in a gorgeous string section, some horns and steady drum beats.

To sum it up: What impresses the most is how well James uses his voice. He offers this wide variety in such effortless manner and makes it seem so casual. "Higher Than Here" is a well produced album which wins you over with a lot of honesty and big emotions. Thumbs up!

You should listen to these tracks: Demons, Stay Like This, Right Here, Easy Love




James Morrison online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram



Thank you for reading!








 


Credits // Text: Vanessa Jertschewske | Image: James Morrison press kit | Video: via joizTV CH

*** A physical copy of this album was sent to me by Universal Music Germany ***


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