Norma MacDonald is the type of artist you love to claim as your own. As selfish as it seems, you want her to only play small shows at local watering holes, coveting her songs as you would a secret pizza joint or a craft lager.

 

Unfortunately for Nova Scotian music fans, Norma’s voice – one as pure as freshly fallen snow – and polished arrangements can move from province to province, bar to bar, and festival to festival without ruffling the feathers of any local scene. On the surface you might take that to mean nondescript or generic, but in reality MacDonald and multi-instrumentalist Phil Sedore (with help from endless members of the NS folk/roots scene) created a record that will stand up strongly year after year, regardless of what made up, micro-genre is the flavor of the month.

 

Morning You Wake oozes patience and professionalism. Years of playing together and an understanding of Norma’s musical vision helped the large cast of musicians provide supporting textures that help MacDonald finish her thoughts without overcrowding the end result. Whether it’s warm organ tones, violin, french horn, or understated harmonies, every contribution fits nicely alongside Norma’s honest, heartfelt subject matter. Morning You Wake is a natural progression from her last LP, in both sound and structure, and honestly if you dind’t know this was only her second full length, it would be easy to think MacDonald has a catalog spanning decades.

 

The album standout, “Blackhearts of the Company”, details the life and untimely death of coal miner William Davis and will certainly earn a few well deserved Neko Case comparisons, but really the consistency of Morning You Wake is its biggest strength. Each country/folk melody is well crafted and helps Norma’s voice charm each and every listener. Norma is playing @ The Company House on June 4th with Ruth Minnikin and Ronok Sarkar. I’d guess there might be a few special guests on the stage with her that night, so make sure you are there.

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MP3:: Norma MacDonald – Blackhearts of the Company
WEB:: ttp://www.normamacdonald.com