Cindy Morgan - Beautiful Bird

Producer:  Cindy Morgan
Record Label:  Barefoot Mama Records
Website:  http://www.cindymorganmusic.com

It’s hard to believe that Cindy Morgan has been at the music thing for over 15 years.  She debuted as Christian music’s next big dance-pop artist on Word Records and released three highly successful albums in that vein (well, Under the Waterfall was more pop-r&b, but that’s for another time).  In late 1996, Cindy Morgan released what most have called her most impressive to date - Listen.  Listen became a watershed record for the singer/songwriter - showcasing impressive lyrics with beautiful and soaring melodies.  Morgan released two more records and a greatest hits compilation with Word Records before she was dropped by the label due to much restructuring.  It took Morgan another five years to release Postcards, which was picked up by Reunion Records, and found Cindy tackling different instrumentation and songwriting styles.  Now, Morgan is again on her own, but it seems in a better place. 

Self-producing her own record for the first time, Cindy went into her own home studio to create her next album without major label backing or unreasonable expectations.  She would make the record she felt she as destined to make.  And did she ever.  Beautiful Bird picks up right where Postcards left off - embracing even more country and bluegrass elements while not abandoning the singer/songwriter feel of past works.  Rather than sounding like Tori Amos or Nichole Nordeman this time - there’s more Emmylou Harris, Aimee Mann, or Allison Krauss to be found - and no better place than on the album opener and O Brother, Where Art Thou? inspired “Lay Me Down”.  “Two Roads” is pop/country at its finest, and Cindy pulls it off exceptionally well.  Beautiful Bird just feels like a culmination of all of Morgan’s past works. 

It’s like she threw all of the elements that worked on past efforts into a small bag and pulled them out one by one on this release.  “Fine”, the fun pop number, could’ve have been plucked from the Elementary sessions, while the haunting piano-ballad “The Lion and the Lamb” wouldn’t have been out of place along side the songs from The Loving Kind.  It also feels like Cindy finally found the place where radio-friendly and art meet on tracks like “Most of All” and the rousing “Beautiful Bird”.  Morgan’s knack for catchy pop hooks is evident as well on the catchy “When It’s Love” and inspirational “I Wish” (which, coincidently sounds like something off of Listen).  Lyrically, Morgan is once again at the top of her game - covering everything from topics of heaven ("The Lion & the Lamb"), hope to broken hearts and tired lives ("Beautiful Bird”, “The Sun Shines Through”, “In These Rooms"), and the wonders of life ("Fine", “When It’s Love").  Only available digitally at this point, Beautiful Bird is a triumph on every level and possibly the finest record Morgan has released to date.  It incorporates all the elements of Morgan’s vast career that has earned her so much respect to begin with.  Beautiful Bird is one of those records that only comes along every few years.  It’s not to be missed.

Purchase Beautiful Bird at Cindy Morgan’s website.

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