If you’ve paid any attention to industry experts’ predictions for acts to watch in 2015, you’ll have heard plenty about Rae Morris.
Having released three EPs in the last year, there has been a steady buzz building about the English singer-songwriter and on first listen, debut album Unguarded brings to mind acts like Florence And The Machine and Foxes.
Combining her signature vocals with soaring electropop beats, Morris (with producers Ariel Rechtshaid, Jim Eliot and Fryars) has found an approach that really showcases her voice and the clever layering creates an ethereal feel across the album.
At 21, Morris doesn’t have a world of life experience to draw on and this does show lyrically on some tracks, which fall slightly short on emotional depth.
In a recent interview, she described Unguarded as a journey in “figuring out who I am” and this seems a fitting description as the overall sense is that Morris is an artist with huge potential who just hasn’t hit her stride just yet.
However, songs like Love Again and Cold show that she does have the capability to produce simple yet evocative lyrics, while Closer is a prime example of the fresh sound that will distinguish Morris from contemporaries like Ellie Goulding.
Latest single Under The Shadows is also a cast-iron radio hit and Unguarded is an album that will most likely strike a chord with a younger market.
As efforts from Redlight, Kid Arcade and Jack Steadman have shown, Morris’ material is ripe for club remixes but if she wants to cement her place in the music industry, the Blackpool artist will have to dig a little deeper.
Rating: ***/*****
Unguarded by Rae Morris is out now on Atlantic and is available on iTunes.
