Circle of Allusions

Personality counts for a lot in lo-fi music. Bob Dylan only wrote 2 of the 13 tracks on his debut album, but his voice and guitar playing crackled with life, wit, and a taste of the dry sense of humor to come. Morgan Orion wrote all 9 tracks on his debut album, and it drips with his personality, particularly the sound of his voice. A common flaw many beginning folk artists make is to allow their influences overpower their creativity. There are a million and ten bearded 20-somethings out there who are trying desperately to sound like an Iron & Wine, or a Bruce Springsteen. There is only one Morgan Orion.

One of the great things about Morgan Orion is that he sounds exactly as you would expect him to after looking at him, and he looks exactly like you’d think if you heard him. It’s a friendly, unpretentious, and slightly defeated sounding voice, one that is perfectly mirrored by his lyrics. Songs like “Furniture” and “Seashore” are driven by free-associative imagery like “Sweeping what’s swept up and keeping what’s kept up/it’s not so easily done/the battles are ample but we’re just a sample/of all that’s been lost and won” and ”They had a child, the child had another/this young boy was that child’s brother/he looked at his Grandfather with eyes like sailing ships”. His clever wordplay gives the songs a terrific rhythm and energy that no amount of additional instrumentation could duplicate.

With 9 tracks clocking in at 30 minutes, Circle of Allusions is a highly enjoyable and propulsive record that gets in, does it’s job, and gets out. It’s been getting a whole lot of airplay at my place, even as background music it always puts me in a good mood. Do yourself a favor, and check him out.

-Patrick Ripoll