Copyright ©1997, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com
More musically diverse, more intense, more emotionally mature, a touch of heavy-metal flavor -- all true when you're listening to Amy Morriss's new CD Within the Sound of Your Voice. No more smooth R&B or sweet praise songs for this still-young woman (she's now 27) as we heard on her first recording I'm a Believer, released in 1995.
Morriss seems totally immersed in the lyrics of the introspective cuts on this second album, occasionally singing a capella or in syncopated rhythm. They display a depth of inner personal searching although Morriss is credited as writer of only four of the cuts. The opening song "I Am Yours" has pop music influences from start to finish, and listeners may wonder what happened to her earlier R&B flavor.
"In the Name of Jesus," co-written with Dennis Matkosky (also one of the producers), Marty Hennis, and Dave Clark, allows her voice to soar in emotions that seem to mean most to her.
She credits the song Carolyn Arends wrote ("It Has to Be You") as a kind of turning point in picking the cuts for the album. "The song conveys a lot of spiritual honesty, and that's important to me. It felt like my song," says Morriss.
There's also been plenty of change in Morriss's personal life in the last two years. She and her husband had their first baby, eight-month-old Emma, which may give another level of meaning to her almost-lullaby "You Love Me."
None of the ten cuts are long. In trying out these new styles and rhythms, Morriss is flexing her musical muscles, sure of her basic love of the Lord and becoming more dependent on Him. She's trying to stay Within the Sound of Your Voice.
Copyright ©1997, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com