Jess Morgan - Crosses

Jess Morgan’s single ’Crosses’ is a four-track demonstration of her skills and versatility as a young singer-songwriter. The songs show versatility in style, from the contemplative ’Crosses’ to the folksy Americana of ’Who Killed Cock-Robin’.

On first listen I wasn’t sure where Jess sat on the sliding scale of folk to acoustic music, but further contemplation on both the songs and the eternal ’what is folk music?’ question, made my mind up that I like what I hear.

Strangely, for me, the slightly mournful strains of the titular track ’Crosses’ makes it my least favourite. Much more preferable is ’Pamela’, with its tale involving a war veteran and rather jovial tune. ’Gut-row’ slows the pace but gives a wonderful nod to the traditional cannon using the melody of ’Molly Malone’ briefly each chorus. A beautiful device for tying old to new.

Jess has recorded her first full-length album, so it will be interesting to see how the variety displayed on this four-track plays out across a longer disc. Certainly her voice and musicality mean I will be watching with interest to see what she comes up with.