R.G. Morrison - Diamond Valley
by Maarten Schiethart
published: 14 / 11 / 2013
Label:
Static Caravan
Format: LP
intro
Melancholic but uplifting folk pop on third album from thoughtful Devon-based band, R.G. Morrison
When you, like me, do not like Anthony and the Johnsons, because frankly speaking he's a whiner, but you do appreciate exquisitely worded empathy set to beautiful music, then R.G. Morrison's third LP is mandatory listening. Straight from the heart but still using his mind, R.G. Morrison's 'Diamond Valley' is pure cross-Atlanticana. It is not as formal and restrained as British folk music sometimes tends to be, but not as sloppy in its loose American languish as alt-country. Thoughtful and sprinkled with moments of depressing contemplation, the album maintains a gentle tone. 'Diamond Valley' meanders along thinly drawn lines with its softly stricken chords and calmly composed lyrics. Perhaps as a non-electronic Radiohead type of band, R.G. Morrison, the person and the group bearing his name, reveals a sense of vulnerability that surfaces in the first female vocals on the album, which proclaim that "You don't know how miserable you are." The next song's lyric - the husband replies I assume - reads , "And words you say, they can hurt/And so better, and for your word?/Well I'll guess you must feel pretty sad." Towards the end there are the lyrics: 'Our sun rises/Our sun dies here'. There is no happy ending to this visit to 'Diamond Valley'. An intricate and personal LP, 'Diamond Valley' bars out the common truth. What's behind the secrecy on this tender folk album makes for even greater guessing, but its overall mystique helps to make this a rather majestic set of songs. 'As the Shadows Grow' and 'Cursed by the Hands and the Ghosts They Breed' build lines hinting at gloom and doom. As miserable as the lyrics are, the music, however, like that of contemporary blues music, tickles with optimism. "What good is praying to someone who knows how to defect?" is another memorable line that will strike a chord with many. Unmistakingly of grand stature, this LP embodies deeply personal lyrics in a warm bath of mesmerizing pop folk ballads. Even greater music from R.G. Morrison may still lay ahead.
Track Listing:-
1 Diamond Valley2 Save A Little Fear
3 Sweetheart
4 White Church
5 Love Saved The Nineties
6 Dreaming
7 Slumber
8 Poor Cow
9 The Sun
10 Weary
Band Links:-
http://thergmorrison.com/https://www.facebook.com/thergmorrison
https://twitter.com/thergmorrison
Label Links:-
http://www.staticcaravan.org/soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart