Ally Carnwath 

James Vincent McMorrow: Post Tropical – review

James Vincent McMorrow's second album sees him broadening his palette to multitracked, often magnificent ends, writes Ally Carnwath
  
  


Bon Iver comparisons were inevitable for the wintry folk of James Vincent McMorrow's 2011 debut: beard, falsetto and recording sessions in an isolated cottage saw to that. They're valid here too: like Justin Vernon, McMorrow has renounced backwaters minimalism to create a richly textured second album – his remarkable, soulful voice competes for space with electronic pulses and digital brass. But McMorrow's USP lies perhaps in the grand gesture; there's a multitracked theatricality to songs such as Gold and Looking Out, which costs him some of the shiver factor of more understated peers, but delivers moments of magnificence too.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*