Cary Morin
Innocent Allies
Self-released
Grown Up Cinematic and Artistic Songs For Cinematic and Artistic Grown Ups
Writers seek inspiration from a variety of sources – and on this release, Montana resident Cary Morin has put together a batch of songs inspired by the Western painter Charlie Russell.
To those who don’t know of Russell, Morin says that “If there is a white man who can be credited with preserving the history of Native Americans in the 1880’s, it is the western artist Charlie Russell.”
This mixture of the personal and wider heritage is at the core of this release and as Morin also says
“As a Native Crow, I think I observe details in Charlie Russell’s paintings from a cultural perspective that a non-Native person may not see”.
In terms of its sound, this album has a very “lived-in” feel – from the opener “Big Sky Sun Goes Down” to the closing track “Montana Sky” Morin’s fur-lined gravelly timbre dominates the tone throughout. Don’t expect an uptempo knees-up though – the album is a largely medium-paced series of reflections.
Of the more sprightly numbers “Indian Hunters Return” has a Dire Straits/Chris Rea feel that would sit right at home on Radio 2 and “Big Nose George’s Outlaw Blues” is a shuffle-along boogie that moves into toe-tapper territory.
More reflective numbers help to highlight Morin’s finger-picking and push his narratives to the fore – “Wally and Keoma” being one excellent example, where less is more; and “Old Timer’s Poem” fits into this bracket too, where form suits function – with added harmony.
“Killing the Blues” , a cover of a Rowland Salley song, adds more keyboard and bass-toned instrumentation, but sits firmly in the reflective camp too.
Elsewhere, there’s a lot of late night, laid-back swathes of rootsy instrumentation and caramel vocals – “Whiskey Before Breakfast” is an Irish type reel, whereas “Waiting and Mad” takes off down a Bruce Hornsby path.
The mid-paced narrative of “Good Medicine” is a cosy blanket reflection of the painter Russell’s letters to friends. The instrumental “Bullhead Lodge” also has a somewhat Celtic feel, inspired by Russell’s landscape paintings – yet this wouldn’t have gone amiss on a Kris Drever album in style and inspiration.
In his album notes, Morin remarks that he took his time over the creation of these songs – recording them, rewriting and going back to tidy them up – this very much comes over in his mature, tidy arrangements and songwriting.
It’s a very grown up record – having had the benefit of the detailed notes linking the songs to Russell’s paintings, this is an album that is going to benefit from the warmth of a vinyl release (if it gets one) with the ability for the listener to pore over the copious notes on an accompanying booklet – knowing about Russell (I knew nothing of him before this release) certainly adds an extra dimension to the listening experience.
Review by Nick Barber
Released 26th January 2024
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