Reviewed by Tom Whitman

Julie Lee begins this stunning mini-album with the lush instrumental of "Petit Bebe", the haunting melancholy of the wind chimes and ethereal vocals preceding the beautiful acoustic guitar parts. The atmosphere is set for the second track, the defining "Morning", named after the Emily Dickenson poem that gives the mini-album its name. If ever there was a time to talk about the crafting of a song it is here, the poem being truly brought to life with the beautifully emotive expression of Lee's tender delivery. The poem seems to use morning as a metaphor for the light within our lives that brings relief, peace and joy, and posing the question of whether it will arrive, it raises the issue of doubt. Cleverly the next track "Hope's The Thing With Feathers" is another Emily Dickenson poem, counteracting the painful question of doubt with hope. Where in "Morning" it is asked "Has it feathers like a bird?", in "Hope's The Thing With Feathers" it is confidently answered as the singing bird is likened to hope itself. On "Forgive Yourself", the song and heart of which is enough to make any man cry, the tenor banjo and lap steel give it the distinctively folk and bluegrass feel that pervades the CD. The complimentary nature of her self-penned songs touching on brokenness versus the wonderful craft of the three poem tracks, and the instrumentals in between, all combine to make it a classic record. Haunting and beautiful, honest and hopeful, it is hard to express how much this record and its songs can mean to broken people, with offerings like "The Other Half", which concerns divorce, being just one fine example. The simple and atmospheric quality of the arrangement is testament to being recorded in the rooms of an old church, which provides a fine setting for a more than fine mini-album.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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