I don’t think I’ve ever been made to feel like I’m being seduced by a mermaid when listening to a band before, but that’s all changed with the gorgeous, tender strains of Scotland’s Frankie Morrow‘s debut EP.
I guess that kind of thing does fit in with the folk aesthetic anyway, so I won’t necessarily say it’s entirely surprising, but the gentle lull of the vocals here wash over you in a way that makes you feel as though your soul is being cleansed by cherubims.
That’s enough of the mythical creature analogies anyway, but it should give you some kind of idea what Frankie Morrow’s self-titled EP is all about. ‘Sunflowers‘ puts me a little in mind of a cross between The Lion’s Roar era First Aid Kit and early Hurray For The Riff Raff. Given that I absolutely adore both of those bands, this is far from a bad thing.
‘White Rocks‘ is a little more driven by crunchy guitars but still glorious – those vocals are something to behold – and this time there are shades of Alabama Shakes peering out from behind those shades. All this is very much to Frankie Morrow’s credit – while there is little doubt that the band fits neatly into the ‘folk’ drawer on one hand, there is enough here to differentiate them from their counterparts. Perhaps ‘Americana’, despite their Northern European roots, is a better banner to wave at you by way of description.
I love the way the songs just feel so effortless and flow together so beautifully. If anyone said to meet “Can you make me feel like I’m lying on my back in a beautiful garden on a sunny day, watching the blue skies and pointing out shapes in the clouds“, I would merely play them the curtain closer ‘A Sign Of Promise‘, because the whole thing just has such a positive vibe, and also a pleasantly relaxing one. You know how, if you go to a spa, and have a massage, then afterwards they send you into a room with beautiful views of gardens to chill out for half an hour? It’s like that. Frankie Morrow show more than ‘a sign of promise’ here. Even in these tumultuous, uncertain political times the future, under them, seems good.
Blue Parrot Backpackers Hostel is self-released on 28th October.
