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Feb 22, 2022 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

Queens-based songwriter Kyle Morgan makes his label debut with Younger At Most Everything. The title of which was derived from a mishearing of one of Gram Parsons’ finest moments (“Hickory Wind”). Morgan is grounded in the tradition of acoustic singer/songwriters, but shows a penchant for particularly strong writing. This is especially the case on the heartfelt opener, “And You.” A song written for his late father, vivid recollections of details like a “sawdusty junk drawer,” show a writerly eye for invoking the pathos of a loss not the listener’s own. With delicate instrumentation and higher register vocals not far afield from Rufus Wainwright’s early tone, “And You” is both the polar opposite of Guy Clark’s spare and stark late in life take of “The Randall Knife,” as well as its kindred spirit.

The following “The Seedling” borrows from the melody of the ancient hymn “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” married up with the folkier feel of Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More.” While the shorter and brisker “Tara” and “Deer in the Pines” hold more interest than some of the album’s longer tracks. Both benefit from Morgan stretching his vocals into the choruses, with the parlor ramble briskness of “Deer in the Pines” being another lyrical high water mark, while also proving the album’s catchiest moment.

With the album clocking in at over 50 minutes in length, the middle meanders a bit through bookended nearly seven-minute long songs in “Momma Take My Hand” and “Ransom the Captive Heart.” While carefully constructed, those songs leave room for the mind to wander. Smartly, Morgan ends with a pair of smaller gems in the slowly stoked “Do You Still Have Some Fight in You” and folky closer “Something Younger,” which mirrors the classics of eras before him. Morgan has much promise that is brought to bear in Younger At Most Everything’s most pointed, and poignant, moments. (www.starcrossedlosers.com)

Author rating: 7/10