Sally Anne Morgan "Cups"
Cups divines splendor and surprise from Morgan’s off-the-cuff approach to assembling the record. Steeped in a relaxed glow and flowing with acoustic reverence, the pieces push outside the rigid bounds of the fiddle tunes that Morgan was raised on and embrace the inspiration of a moment. Morgan’s composing and recording process was less centered on capturing the perfect take but instead on finding unique moments and combinations of sounds that reflect back distinct parts of herself. The steady strums of banjo and flutters of fiddle on “Prune” were initially laid atop tambura which was subsequently removed from the piece to give a stronger sense of space and slower pace. Scattered glockenspiels speckle “Night Window” as fiddle loops compound and the evening air spills through open cabin windows. “Through the Threshold” recalls the fiddle tune “Sugar in the Gourd” amongst sifting waves of legato bowings and trickles of accented percussive fiddle, handbells, xylophone and wooden frogs.