Toronto roots rocker EMMETT MORRIS is ready to bust out on new single “Gilded Cage”
“Gilded Cage” marks the formal arrival of Toronto singer-songwriter-guitarist Emmett Morris while also previewing his full-length debut album The Old Way, out Sept. 25.
Boasting a swampy groove and swagger for days, “Gilded Cage” is a latter-day wage slave’s mordant cri de coeur (“They make it so easy to buy our beer / But I could fill these empties with my tears”). It’s a song that likely would have been an instant FM staple back in the day, and serves as a reminder that rock and roll continues to thrive through the efforts of new voices.
Some may already be familiar with Emmett as a member of Julianna Riolino’s band, and also as a member of Nicolette & The Nobodies — or even his distant past in the hardcore band Wild Side. But after releasing a couple of solo EPs, he is now ready to step out on his own.
After much deliberation about where to record The Old Way, Emmett decided to go back to the first professional studio he ever tracked in as a high school student in his hometown of Barrie, Ontario, a facility now known as Thread Junction Studios, run by Jesse Harradine.
“I had a beer with Jesse and he was a great hang,” Emmett says. “We shared a lot of musical common ground, and we both talked about how much we love our hometown, which everyone, including fellow residents, seem to shit on so much.”
This is The Old Way: The Odyssean homecoming, the soul-soothing comfort of the familiar, and the inspiration that inevitably flows forth.
The guitar-playing is heroic throughout the record, while the lyrics say in plain English exactly what they mean—no coded messages, with Julianna adding vocals to two songs, “Won’t Fool Me” and “Well Ran Dry,” and Nicolette reprising her role as Emmylou to Emmett’s Gram on “Friend Of Mine” and the title track.
Overall, the confident, sure-handed performances on The Old Way evince a time-and-place immediacy owing to breakneck live-from-the-floor tracking over a mere two days in the comfy hometown studio.
“I’d rather not piece a record together bit by bit,” Emmett says. “Instead I want to get my friends, who happen to be some killer musicians, into the room, laying down some great takes.”
This, again, is The Old Way: Plugging in, pressing record and ripping; not worrying about mistakes, never quixotically pursuing perfection, just playing music you love with people you love.
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