Ben Morgan-Brown – Moment
Release Date: Out Now
People have approached the
challenge of being a musician or creative during a pandemic in different ways
but Devon’s Ben Morgan-Brown is the first I’ve come across who just sat down
with his guitar and recorded an entire acoustic album. ‘Moment’ opens with the
foot tapping finger picking gloriousness of ‘Old Hemp’ and you’re immediately
transported to a stoop at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains as the sun
starts to go down. ‘Mists’ keeps the mood going with that hypnotic finger picking
before BMB, as his friends call him, gives us his beautifully atmospheric take
on the folk classic ‘Scarborough’.
On ‘Northumberland Rags’ we are treated
to a meandering melody with all the promise and optimism of a summer morning
with nothing more on your agenda than walking down a country lane to an isolated
beach. ‘One For Nathan’ is a mellower, more thoughtful affair while ‘Knotted
Pines’ takes us back to those American frontiers as the guitar notes chime
through the evening air and you can almost hear the crackle of the campfire in
the background. There’s a playfulness to ‘Sketch’ that is steeped in English
folk tradition before ‘The Banks of the Old River Platte’ picks us up and drops
us in Missouri for some expert twanging on that ol’ six string.
This odyssey on guitar rounds the
final bend with ‘Drake’s Mix’ which has more to do with an Elizabethan adventurer
than a Canadian rapper before final track ‘Bat’ leaves us on a whimsical and
warming high. My advice to you is get this album, put on some good quality
speakers and sit out in your garden or at the front of your house with some
sipping liquor – it’s a recipe for a perfect afternoon or evening. Or morning
if you’re that way inclined but maybe stick to a cup of joe.
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