Bill Morrissey - You'll Never Get To Heaven (1996/2019)

YOU'LL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN marks quite a departure for Bill Morrissey. The folk world, it can be safely assumed, was probably taken aback from the album's decidedly different feel. Whereas Morrisey's previous albums were notable for their spare instrumentation (often what was left off was just as important as what actually was played), this album finds the singer incorporating veteran soul musicians and a full horn section.

The fact that the fuller sound doesn't overwhelm Morrissey, a singer who sounds like he drinks full pitchers of sand before recording, is a testament to both the production and Morrissey's skills as a songwriter and interpretive performer. On the title track, in between bursts of brass, he evokes the same nuances of the trudging and nearly beaten human spirit that highlight his earlier work. However different the album's sound is, the quality of the songs remains the same. In Morrissey's case that's praise of the highest order.