Jess Morgan - Langa Langa (2014)

One of the joys of reviewing music over the last few years has been those occasions when a familiar voice comes along delivering unfamiliar songs. Jess Morgan has been doing this for almost five years now, with each release presented in her own distinctive and immediately recognisable voice together with an assured claw-hammer guitar style, perfectly suited to that voice. First and foremost though, Jess Morgan is a storyteller and it's always the songs thatgrab our attention, like musical novellas to be enjoyed in one sitting. This was the case with her 2010 debut ALL SWELL and then again a couple of years ago with her Pledge Music Campaign funded AYE ME, both packed with instantly accessible and appealing Jess Morgan originals.

Jess's third full-length release LANGA LANGA once again delivers on a promise to bring excellent story songs, with some delightful musical arrangements, some featuring a handful of choice musicians including Sarah Smout on cello, Prue Ward on fiddle and John Parker on double bass. Opening with a song ironically called The Last Song, Jess immediately engages us with her first story and takes us on a journey with ten songs written from notes compiled during her travels around the world, plus a reading of the traditional Silver Dagger. Close up and personal, some of the songs lean toward autobiography, such as Freckles in the Sun and Cavalier, which one assumes are reflections on the songwriter's personal experience and Modern World which reflects our growing detachment from these current times, whilst Adam and Genevieve, Movie Scene and The Lone Cashier exemplify Jess's apparent comfort zone in writing modern parables, each imbued with alluring characters.