HEAR THE SOUL INFUSED COVER
OF RADIOHEAD’S “KARMA POLICE” TODAY
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On July 30th, Wax Poetics Records will release Mockingbird the anticipated sophomore long player from rising NYC soul-siren Kendra Morris. Mockingbird finds Morris giving a soul-infused makeover to 14 classic songs that span the past five decades. The first single off the forthcoming LP is the Pink Floyd classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” which brought Morris to the fore due to its inclusion in the trailer for the 2013 Colin Farrell film, Dead Man Down. In addition to Pink Floyd, Mockingbird finds Morris and her prolific band—headed by guitarist/producer Jeremy Page—infusing their distinct soul into songs by Radiohead, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Bettye Lavette, Lou Reed, Soundgarden, the Proclaimers, the Beach Boys, Metallica, and more.
Wall Street Journal’s SpeakEasy has debuted the first taste of Mockingbird offering up Morris’s take onRadiohead’s “Karma Police.”
Morris released her long player of original songs, Banshee, in the summer of 2012 on Wax Poetics Records. “Although she could be compared to Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Joss Stone,” says Interview Magazine, “the best analogy for Morris might be a modern-day Janis Joplin.” Packed with singles like “Concrete Waves,” “If You Didn’t Go,” and “Pow,” the album is currently gaining traction overseas with a recent Japanese domestic release and European release due in the fall of 2013. To follow up Banshee, Wax Poetics is readying the release ofMockingbird, which as mentioned, is comprised of covers of popular rock and soul songs.
“I think doing covers is great, because it turns people onto an artist that maybe they would have never taken the time to listen to. I have always loved doing covers, because it is a way to breathe a new life into something that I respect,” says the singer who grew up listening to soul records and harmonizing with her mother in the car. “I think it is important to pay respect to the creator; however, it is so important to bring your own vision to it as well.”
Morris grew up imbued with a sense of music—her parents played in bands together, and she often broke into their cabinets full of vinyl to listen to their favorite records. As Marvin Gaye, the Spinners, War, Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, and the Temptations washed over her, they soon became hers too. She sang along to her favorite albums with a voice she discovered soon after she learned how to talk.
After moving to New York in 2003 (with a short-lived all-girl rock band), Morris began making solo demos and gigging around town with a Sharp GF-777—the Holy Grail of boom boxes made famous by ’80s hip-hop (and, namely, Run-DMC)—lugging the gallant silver stallion that she used as an amp, in addition to her loop pedals and guitars, all over the Lower East Side. Soon after releasing a handful of bedroom recordings, she met and began collaborating with producer Jeremy Page. They instantly found common ground and released a self-titled EP in 2010. “I think Jeremy Page and I have worked very well together because he is an extremely visual person as well,” Morris says. “When he creates the sounds in a track, they often have a very cinematic feel. I can close my eyes, and every instrument he’s added reminds me of a time and a place.”
The hallmark of a true songwriter covering another artist’s song comes with sampling and reimagining certain parts. Something that Morris relates to another one of her artistic expressions. “The more I dive into this career, the more I have been learning about myself, both as a writer, a vocalist, and a performer,” she says. “I think as a creative person, all areas of art take hold of me. I find it so helpful to work on a collage for an afternoon and then go back and write a song, as the layering of a collage and creating this fantasy world out of found photographs is a lot like building the vocals on a track: adding an influence here or there, hearing a part that reminds me of a scene from a movie I just watched, or the way the air felt and smelled at the fair. I constantly write music with a visual in my head.”
1. Space Oddity (David Bowie)
2. As Long as I’ve Got You (The Charmels)
3. Miss You (The Rolling Stones)
4. Walk on By (Dionne Warrick)
5. Shine On Your Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd)
6. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)
7. Im Gonna Be (500 Miles) (The Proclaimers)
8. Karma Police (Radiohead)
9. Ride the Lightening (Metallica)
10. Cry Me a River (Bettye Lavette)
11. Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed)
12. Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
13. Dont Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (The Beach Boys)
14. No Love (But Your Love) (Johnny Mathis)
<< PAST PRAISE >>
“A lush, moody mix of neo-soul” – NPR
“‘Concrete Waves’ [is a] soulful, seductive track.” – Rolling Stone
“Up-and-coming blue-eyed-soul singer…” Billboard
“Her single ‘If You Didn’t Go’ [is] a gorgeously dissonant downtempo cut that’s the perfect soundtrack for a sad, sun-dappled desert day.” – MTV Buzzworthy
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