K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers - K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers

K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers

K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Hailing from Scotland, K. A. Morton has been playing guitar in bands for years before releasing his first solo album entitled K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers. For this album he recruited the Wellwishers who are according to Morton “a fluid bunch of individuals, who at any given point in time are involved in whatever K. A. is doing. Whether it’s playing instruments live or in the studio, working on the next video or working away behind the scene….” 

This album is one of the more eclectic albums I have heard in a while. There are a myriad of styles and every song is different than the next. This can be a strength or weakness depending on how you look at but one thing is certain that a majority of the songs are well written and display effective songwriting.

The album opens with the poppy “We’ll Be Dead.” It is a fast moving song that has Morton’s voice sounding like it passed through a high pass filter and a harmonics generator. It is a short concise song that lasts right under three minutes. The second song “Sleep Horses” couldn't be more different. It starts with an ominous fog of ambience that Morton speaks over in a Scott Walker style. The song picks up a lot of speed once the drums and other instruments enter and it ends up being one of the highlights of the album. 

“The Ice” is an emotionally heavy song that contains some intricate acoustic guitar picking and has some light synths in the background. Morton sings in a low voice that adds just the right amount of Johnny Cash-type melancholy to the song. “Love Like Gold” is one of the best songs on the album as it delivers some of the best vocal work from Morton. It’s a catchy melody and I like the way the vocals were processed (fine tuning delay effects). The album ends with “All The Yellow Fishes.” The way the acoustic guitar picking blends with the crystallized synths is one of the most serene moments on the album.

While not every song strikes gold a good amount of them do. K. A. Morton & The Wellwishers delivers a wide variety of styles that make for an impressive debut that I won’t be putting down anytime soon.

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