On “Younger At Most Everything”, Kyle Morgan is able to successfully cover the broad landscape of Americana music.
Covering the full terrain of such a wide musical spectrum that is Americana is quite a daunting task for any artist particularly if he goes at it alone as a singer-songwriter.
That New York’s Kyle Morgan is set on this trail is already evident from the title of his latest album, ‘Younger At Most Everything’ (a mishearing of Gram Parson’s 1968 classic ‘Hickory Wind’).
Morgan starts it out with ‘And You‘ a song that could, with its intricate string arrangement, easily fall into the category of baroque Americana. He then continues with ‘The Seeding’, a typical singer-songwriter tune and then through ‘Tara’ and ‘Know More’ continues to explore all things subtle country/folk/roots/you name it.
Of course taking such route requires detailed knowledge of all those tricky musical elements. Morgan has both the knowledge and capability to turn his songs into something quite substantial and all this is wrapped in some subtle arrangements that accentuate the songs.
There is yet another aspect that can mar an artist’s efforts and that is substandard lyrics. Fortunately Morgan speaks from his personal experience and all the trials and tribulations that he and those close to him have been through without any pathos, just a straight-ahead narrative – clear and concise:
“It’s a tragedy that’s played in two parts / Act I: sell your soul to feel free / Act II: buy it back at an outrageous fee”. (‘Ransom The Captive Heart’)
Essentially what we get here is some dark, subtle Americana that begs multiple plays.
