If what you are looking for are ‘happy songs for happy people’then Tom Morris’ album won’t do the trick for you. However if you, like me, appreciate the beauty of sadness to the point of drowning yourself in its musical expression, you might end up as addicted to ‘We Were Animals’ as yours truly. And I think that’s why I can’t quite articulate what’s so great about it – because it found me in a very specific place, where my reception was at exactly the same level of sensitivity.
What makes this release stunning is the austerity. The opening ‘A Resurrection’ sets the mood with the intimate solo acoustic guitar and a voice so full of emotions it’s hard not to share them at once. You can hear every stroke of strings, every break of breath. The lyrics are very personal and there is always the exactly right amount of words used to express every emotion. Who knows Tom from Her Name Is Calla will find a similar song construction and the same longing in his voice, but his solo project is simply different. The words, the music, the voice – all those components build such an intimate atmosphere you either feel you belong there or you’re trespassing.
Listening to the album creates a certain feeling of timelessness. The first moment I really sank my teeth into it was on a plane, thousands of feet above the ground and that’s where it felt the most right – somewhere without a set time and space, somewhere quiet and detached. The sound of Tom’s guitar, for whatever reasons, brings to my mind images of the hills of Brokeback Mountain – cold, empty, secluded, yet loaded with feelings not easy to express.
The absolutely highest point of the album is ‘Widow’, a song that became a motto for Tom’s website. The way it’s constructed, the pace with which emotions are expressed, the high pitch of Tom’s voice create a little masterpiece that can only be filed under the ‘unimaginable beauty of sorrow’.
I have a feeling that an album like ‘We Were Animals’ can only be perceived through the listener’s own experience. It’s an invitation to someone’s very own world, but if you decide to enter – you also bear your heart on your sleeve. I can’t deny – that’s where I’m at. And I truly hope that’s a recommendation good enough.
Released April 06 2012 on Olynka Records
Posted by Magda Wrzeszcz
