Although Morning is Sami Stevens’s first outing as a solo artist, the music says otherwise. After stints in other bands and collaborating with some of the most exciting voices in modern music, Stevens is stepping out on her own and bringing with her the lessons learned along the way. Like any piece of art, the 11 songs presented to us on her debut LP started out as simple ideas. Over the years and through collaborations with long-time friends, those ideas transformed into Morning, a stirring set of songs that separates Stevens from not only her modern peers but the vast range of influences that she filtered through herself to create this album. The great thing about a solo debut is the lack of expectations. Stevens was gifted a blank canvas and turned it into a poetic portrait that is equal parts self-analyzation and a mirror held up to the listener. Morning may be our introduction to the lush world of Sami Stevens but she crafted a project so warm and heartfelt, it plays like catching up with an old friend.
The magic of Sami Stevens appears in many ways on her debut but none more so than the range of her voice. It’s not every day a vocalist is able to evoke such visceral reactions by simply singing a note but Stevens’s natural sense of melody and tone allows her voice to carry the weight of the world. “Right In The Middle” features some of the best vocalizations you’ll hear all year, a beautifully delivered ballad that puts Stevens’s heaven-sent vocals on full display. When vocals like this are paired with the expansive arrangements of Morning, it’s a recipe for a gorgeous set of songs. The soft touch of the gliding horns guides you through the literary maze of Stevens’s songwriting, creating a fusion of folk-inspired songwriting and criminally smooth jazz orchestrations.
Sami Stevens is a storyteller, her lyrics evoke the same feeling you get when you crack open your favorite book for the first time in years. They are empathic pieces of poetry that toe the line between empathy and obsession, a dangerous middle ground to be in although Stevens is able to make it sound like home. The album’s intro, “Margaret”, puts her storytelling on full display while only scratching the surface of what the rest of the album holds; emotionally vulnerable soliloquies. Stevens’s songwriting explores the darkest corners of the human experience and pulls the sliver of light out of it to create verses that place her heart on her sleeve while avoiding being too direct. Stevens’s songwriting twists her personal experience with a general relatability and turns it into a coiled serpent waiting to strike. A song like “Utica” personifies the sensation of homesickness while the cheery instrumental of “Pages of You” is juxtaposed with lyrics that attempt to simplify the pain of longing for someone you can’t reach. Instead of placing you in her shoes, Stevens views the world from the perspective of others to find the inspiration for her music, allowing the full spectrum of human emotions to be explored and poeticized.
Morning is more than another debut album, it is our introduction to an ambitious artist whose empathy and compassion can be turned into soaring falsettos over masterful jazz chords. Sami Stevens’ did more than impress with her first solo outing, she quickly established herself as one of the most promising songwriters to appear in the past few years.
