Chris Morrissey - The Inventor
Chris Morrissey Releases "The Inventor" Complete with Music Video
Unlike anything you've probably heard before, "The Inventor" pulsates with unusual energy.
By: Sam Eeckhout
"Disaster, is opportunity..."
When you hear those first lyrics from Chris Morrissey, you're about four minutes and 18 seconds away from a explosive, bass-centric post-rock mega-climax. Before you get there, you're going to slowly be pulled into the world of "The Inventor", a unique genre mishmash and bass march. Some context: Morrissey has musical pedigree. He's a world renowned bass player, has played on a Grammy-nominated album and was the music director (and bass player) for Sara Bareilles as well as Trixie Whitley. Now, he's taking the usually supplementary bass guitar and thrusting it to the forefront.
"The Inventor" fittingly starts with a deep, down-tuned bass riff, throbbing along with eerie guitar strokes that flicker from time to time. But these elements simply act as the shell that encase Morrissey's emotional vocal performance. For now. Drums enter, pushing the march forward with a backbone and a tinge of aggression, while invoking curiosity and creating a soundscape with a depth relentlessly growing. Cymbals begin to creep into the sound, before they fall away, making way for gentle piano and an electronic jelly of effects. But this is merely a dynamic reset for Morrissey and his talented band (drummer Josh Dion and guitarist Grey McMurray). Following the pause is a cathartic explosion of bass guitar downstrokes, scraping, swirling guitar, and drum rolls. It's loud. It's raw. It's different and it's refreshing. It's the moment you've been waiting for.
When you combine the unique emotional provocation of the song, with an equally gripping, complimentary video, you have the start of something really distinct happening. Jazztimes wrote, ""Chris Morrissey may be the shape of things to come when it comes to bassists and band-leaders," and we tend to agree. While it seems that "The Inventor" maybe even unusual for Morrissey himself, it works. It will be exciting to see what direction his sound will take moving forward.
