Russell Morris - Sharkmouth (2012)

It’s been over forty years since Russell Morris scored his major Aussie pop hit ‘The Real Thing’ and he’s still recording. The veteran rock singer-songwriter’s voice is in great form on this new release which charts vastly different territory to his previous titles. Sounding weathered and raspier, Morris’ vocals suit the material on Sharkmouth as he wades into the broad expanse of blues music with a set of a dozen new songs he either wrote or co-wrote. The music brings to life some of the colourful and seedier Australian characters of the pre-World War II era, the CD named after a petty thief and scam artist. Most Australiana characters having been previously portrayed in either a country or colonial folk music sense, Morris and album producer/bass player /pianist Mitch Cairns saw the blues as the best platform from which to launch their stories. And it’s not just the underbelly of ‘20s and ‘30s Australia that’s in focus here. Famed boxer Les Darcy and legendary racehorse Phar Lap are also celebrated in song. The music is kept simple and spacious, Morris and Cairns shooting for a raw, honest, vintage sound with lots of textural instrumentation. Aiding them in this quest are Shannon Bourne on acoustic and electric guitars and Dobro, drummer Adrian Violi, back-up singers and session guests James Black on piano and organ, Troy Cassar-Daley on electric guitar, Renée Geyer on vocals, Mark Lizotte on banjo and cello and Chris Wilson on harmonica. While blues is the CD’s jumping-off point, Morris ventures at times into stripped-back semi-acoustic roots rock terrain.