James Vincent McMorrow – We Don’t Eat EP

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The steady rise of James Vincent McMorrow, a year after his release of Early in the Morning has led to a reintroduction of sorts via We Don’t Eat. A compilation of previously released songs, live tracks and covers, We Don’t Eat doesn’t offer anything new to the table for anyone who’s been following his career.

On the surface, nothing is truly unique about McMorrow. A native of Dublin, his tracks are piano and acoustic guitar-heavy and feature a firm yet tender voice to cradle you into a long night’s slumber, similar to other folk contemporaries. But if you find yourself drawn to this eerie acoustic sound, this EP could act as a place to retroactively dive into McMorrow’s other work.

It starts off with the soothing, yet creepy “We Don’t Eat,” and is one of the standout tracks off of his debut. Conjuring a discomforting image of a family waiting at the kitchen table, it sets up the EP for a rickety ride, riddled with unfettered emotion and fluttery vocals.

It opens up into the cover of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love,” which has been bouncing around various music blogs for months now. A few soft falsettos and minimal instrumentation highlight the song, but it’s not quite as prominent as his cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” He keeps the dark tone set by the original, but takes it to a new level with haunting undertones and drawn-out notes.

Essentially there’s nothing new here. Most or all of the songs have appeared at some point or another before this iteration. But the collection itself packages them together well. Because of the lack of new material it feels like there’s something missing, but instead of these songs just floating around in cyberspace, now they have a place to call home.

Recommended Tracks: We Don’t Eat, If I Had a Boat

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