Sounding reminiscent of Ray Lamontagne and Damien Rice, Dublin born James Vincent McMorrow captivated the capacity crowd in Edinburgh’s Sneaky Petes with an understated, acoustic set featuring tracks from his debut album Early in the Morning.
Although the atmosphere in Sneakys was at times almost uncomfortably intense due to the virtually completely silent crowd, the lack of background noise seemed necessary to appreciate McMorrow’s haunting, hushed vocals. Within an impressive array of tracks from his album and previous EPs, the brilliant first single “This Old Dark Machine” proved a highlight of the gig, along with “From the Woods” and “If I Had a Boat”. At one point McMorrow stepped away from the microphone for a track which only further showcased his soulful, emotive vocals.
His ability for story telling both in his songs and in his rapport with the crowd made for a charming night of confessional tales and poignant lyrics, and seemed to only be a scratch on the surface of McMorrow’s future live potential.
