Kendra Morris' sophomore full-length album, 2013's
Mockingbird, finds the N.Y.C.-based singer/songwriter covering songs from across the pop and soul spectrum.
Mockingbird follows up
Morris' acclaimed debut of all-original material, 2012's
Banshee. With production and arrangements from guitarist and
Morris bandmate
Jeremy Page,
Mockingbird is both a loving homage to the artists who helped shape
Morris' sound as well as a creative reinvention of their songs. Included here are songs by
David Bowie,
Chris Isaak,
Dionne Warwick,
Soundgarden, and others. While many of the tracks on
Mockingbird, like
Bowie's "Space Oddity" and
Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," reveal a reverence for the sound of the original recordings, others, like
Isaak's "Wicked Game" and
Metallica's "Ride the Lightning," move left of center of the source material and allow
Morris to delve deep into her own bluesy, often psychedelic-tinged style. To these ends, she morphs
Radiohead's "Karma Police" into a sultry,
Dusty Springfield-esque slow jam, re-imagines
the Rolling Stones' "Miss You" as a funky, '70s blaxploitation-style anthem, and turns
Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" into an expansive, acid-soaked blues-rock ballad. Although die-hard
Morris fans may wish she had included some original material here, one gets the sense that
Morris has picked songs she has loved and sung along with for years, and her passion for this material is evident in the sound of her resonant vocal chops. Overall,
Mockingbird picks up on the swaggering, quirky, homemade soul vibe that made
Banshee such a delight, and grounds
Morris' own sound in a larger pop tradition. ~ Matt Collar