T E Morris – The Long Distance Runner EP

T E Morris – This ever busy man , will release a new EP called ‘The Long Distance Runner’ soon. I had the privilege, to have been sent a link to it from the man himself and I am at once grateful and surprised by this fact. On his blog, Tom (T E) describes, why he releases so many EPs. He says, “it is therapeutic and I need to.” That’s good enough for me. I am quite touched, by T E Morris’s openness, his music and his lyrics and I don’t seem to be the only one, seeing that most of his EPs are sold out.

“The Long Distance Runner” EP counts 7 songs and is approximately 30 minutes long. 7 very different songs and still, they have one thing in common, the passion, the authenticity and the vocal range, Tom brings to his songs.

The EP starts with the title song “The Long Distance Runner“. In a recent livestream, Tom talked about, how this song is already 11 years old. Sometimes, music and lyrics need the right state of mind of the singer/songwriter, to be finally released for good. It can also be heard on “Kinship – a full circle” from the band Her Name Is Calla, where Tom is the lead singer. It’s differently orchestrated and I have to say, that I prefer Tom’s solo performance of the song. It’s a simple song, that doesn’t need the orchestration of the band. It’s not bad, but different from this version. The song is also featured on Tom’s second full length album “And You Were The Hunter” released earlier this year. The soft fragile tone of Tom’s voice carries this song and guides it towards a more atmospheric part, where violins and percussion are added to the orchestrations. An acoustic guitar solo leads to a pleading “hope leads us on” or is it a question for reassurance? A very strong song, beautifully arranged and ending calmly, gently with a soft “don’t blame yourself”.

“The Long Distance Runner” is followed by “A Year In The Wilderness”. The piano and the vocals sung in harmony lead this calm song. A tune, I could easily see as the soundtrack to a movie. Also very beautiful and somewhat surprising, because it’s not the instrument that I hear often in the music I listen to, is the organ. It gives this song an elegant, eminent flair. A stunning song, one of those that keeps you listening intently and forgetting about the here and now. When I first heard it, snow was falling outside of my window. The snowflakes dancing in the wind where like the perfect visual for “A Year In The Wilderness”. Admittedly, my favorite song of this EP.

Third song is “If You Need Me, I’ll Be At Palomar”. It’s a song, that show’s T E Morris full range of voice, from deep, almost spoken, to falsetto. It also demonstrates his skills at beating up his guitar. If you’ll hear the song, you’ll understand what I mean, but I like it. I was a bit surprised, when the heavy effect on the guitar set in, but somehow it fits perfectly fine with the rest of the song. Sometimes, I think that singers/songwriters should be more daring in their approach, something Tom definitely is. And the courage to experiment, is something that I like about his music. It’s nothing dull that you have heard a million times, it’s fresh, surprising without sounding fake. It’s still him. It’s still Tom and it sounds authentic. And that brings me to the fourth song “I Won’t Ever Go To Sleep Again”. A sweet ballad, carried by T E Morris unique voice and his range. Funnily enough, when he sing “I won’t ever go to sleep again”, I believe him. Again it sounds authentic. Personally, I like that this song is played on electric guitar rather than on acoustic like most songs are. For me, it underlines the fragility of the song all the better. The next song is something completely different yet again. A song called “I met a man who wasn’t there”. Prominent feature of this song is the banjo accompanying Tom. For me, this song is not Tom. Sorry. It sounds a lot like his Her Name Is Calla bandmate Weike. Even the way it is sung sounds more like Weikie and it’s the only song, (maybe the first ever?) that doesn’t touch any emotions inside of me. Though the lyrics are really good. The (I presume) banjo that sounds intentionally out of tune, doesn’t reach me at all. Also at the end, I think a laughter is missing… It just sounds like a place, where one would laugh and it gets cut in editing.

“A River Of Ghosts” is a “typical” (is there ever such a thing?) T E Morris song. The voice and the lyrics is what carries this song. Again a song, that lets us hear a wide range of vocals, while harmonies are sung. I really like it. The last and 7th song is called “Idea 4_6Aug2012” I guess, the right name for the song was still missing and there’s no harm going with the suggestion of your Mac/PC. “Thought I lived ’till I was old…” and the lyrics in general to this song, sound like the thoughts I had, when I turned 30 and had trouble accepting, that I was not in at a point in my life, where I had seen myself prior. We all have these goals and once in a while we look back, reflecting on ourselves and aren’t were we thought we would be. The sound of the synthesizer as a filler is beautiful and again, it reminds me of a movie soundtrack. Mister Morris is able to write beautiful, haunting melodies. This is a brilliant song, that builds and builds. Mostly the second half of this song is awesome, when different voices and different instruments set in. No elaborated lyrics needed here. A worthy song, to close a stunning EP. To be honest, the tune and the “ahahs” follow me ever since I first heard this EP.

This is of course a very subjective review. You don’t have to like, what I do. Though, I’m am convinced that this man is very worthy of your attention. T E Morris can be found on bandcamp: here. (For everywhere else he can be found (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/ Soundcloud) browse temorris.co.uk )

Once again, everything was done right (imho).

I see you at your next livestream, Mister Morris

❤ Cathy

and this is just for me, because I love that song so much 😉 (by the way, the first chords, isn’t that ‘All Along The Watchtower’ from Jimi Hendrix?)