4 1/2 stars (out of 5)
The military took Joshua Morrison away from Seattle,
and then helped him create one of the greatest albums of 2007.
--Seattle Sound
Joshua Morrison grew up listening to local artists Death Cab for Cutie and Pedro the Lion. I don’t say that to make you feel old but to give you an idea of where his influences come from. That, along with the three years he’s spent in the Army and away fighting in Iraq. While in Iraq he would scribble down lyrics and record when he was back home @ Fort Lewis. Incredible insight into the mind of a young and talented man serving his country and one of the best singer/songwriters this area has seen since Elliott Smith made his home in Portland. --John Richards of KEXP, for The Crystal Ball for Seattle Sound
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Occasionally, despite being behind in my projects...I will hear something so fantastic I have to drop what I am doing and let you know about it. John Richards (KEXP) played a song by Joshua Morrison on his morning radio program yesterday that stopped me in my tracks (“Home†the title track from his new album). Now, Joshua is a singer-songwriter, and truth be told, I am not really entranced by this particular genre with few exceptions: Ray LaMontagne, Damien Rice, Alexi Murdoch and the like. Joshua is a veteran of the Iraq War and he crafts amazingly gentle, breathy compositions packed with immense sentiment. His songs will plow through the fortress you have erected around yourself to keep the bad stuff out, and remind you what it means to be human. --Renata Sadunas, Music Editor, amazon.com
His debut album, Home, is a quiet, peaceful affair, sublimating whatever stress or pain Morrison has suffered into calm, reflective ballads of love and homecoming. -- The Stranger
With "Home" Joshua Morrison makes his mark on a local scene already filled with an abundance of excellent singer-songwriter types. He fits right in with the Votolatos and Bazans of Seattle and throughout the record shows he has the potential to hang with the Gibbards and Smiths of the Northwest music world.
Morrison's smoky, yet smooth voice coupled with the emotion that seeps through his lyrics make for some powerfully poignant music. Like most every effective songwriter, Morrison draws from his own experiences for source material and his music touches on the typical songwriter tales of life while in pursuit of love and happiness.
However, unlike most songwriters, the well of life experiences he draws from includes having served a tour of duty in the Army in Iraq. This is one of the many things that makes his emotionally powerful music so unique and Morrison himself stand out amongst those in the rather crowded local singer-songwriter scene.--Seattle PI
Any Joshua Morrison review that fails to mention that he sounds exactly like Mark Kozelek (most notably of Red House Painters) should be called into question. The vocals on “Commerce Street†are so similar to Kozelek’s hushed and wavering tones you might get to thinking that some sort of switcheroo has transpired between the two: Morrison usurps Kozelek’s place in the indie spotlight, and Kozelek assumes Morrison’s life -- in the army.
That’s right: Morrison’s debut, Home, was recorded after he returned from Iraq, and he remains active in the military. This came as some surprise to me, and revealed a certain irony of popular music I continue to participate in: Morrison is the only songwriter I can think of who I look to for voice and conscience (over matters of war) and can also speak firsthand about an experience in the military.
Yet Morrison’s Home does so tenderly, sidestepping protest songs and anti-war anthems, uncovering instead the simple hopes of a twenty-something walking the line between duty and longing. With a knowing inflection, Morrison sings about the things he missed, hoped for, and dreamt about while stationed in Iraq, revealing through simple acoustic arrangements the heart of, in some ways, many soldiers like him. The title track expresses a quiet realization upon his return: “Oh my God/ I nearly died/ When I saw you in that dress/ I felt alive for the first time since I left home.†For someone with firsthand combat experience, the soft-spoken lyrics on “Madness†are poetic and hard-earned: “When I see your face/ It gives me hope/ For something more.â€
Although folks like Kozelek (or me, for that matter) might not be so quick to trade places with Morrison, and young Morrison himself offers no solutions for the current occupation in Iraq, a quick look through his MySpace profile offers one distinguishing perspective: one picture shows a small ethnic girl looking out from the inside of an armored truck; another, a sketch of mountains and pine trees. It appears that Morrison has and will continue to make connections with all spheres of his world, and what’s so beautiful about this release is its quiet recognition those simple actions: honesty, connection, and awareness.--prefix.com