Released: March 8
Celebrating female artists and visionaries that have proven inspirations throughout her life and career, Sarah Jane Morris’ ‘The Sisterhood’ finds her at the pinnacle of creativity.
A representation of her musical foundations, the 10 songs on the record see the chart-topping singer pay tribute to Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Annie Lennox and Kate Bush.
“For more than 20 years I have been thinking about projects to celebrate women and our contribution to the history of song. This, at last, is it,” says Sarah Jane. “These are my ten singers, my essential lodestars. With these stories I tell my own, acknowledge my musical tutelage and identify the women who mean so much to me.”
Lead single Jazz Side Of The Road is a soulful, mid-tempo number capturing the essence of two-time Grammy Award winner Jones, with Morris’ trademark contralto vocals as arrestingly impressive as when she traded off with Jimmy Sommerville on The Communards’ Don’t Leave Me This Way.
Since then, she’s recorded 15 albums with this lockdown project, conceived alongside husband Mark Pulsford, a labour of love that oozes passion while showcasing her creativity on tracks like Rimbaud Of Suburbia, which juxtaposes Bush’s creativity with that of the titular French poet.
The title song is an homage to Franklin, delivered with a depth of passion that would impress the Queen of Soul herself, while Couldn’t Be Without offers a more plainly biographical narrative of Smith’s life.
Closing number Miss Makeba – a collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir – makes for a spectacular finale from a body of work that brings Morris’ artistic journey full circle for a true embodiment of the essence of sisterhood.
She adds of the set: “This album is dedicated to all my musical sisters, to those who went before and to those still making music. Thank you for blazing the trail, for fighting for us all with your irresistible talent and your passionate resolve.”
