The moodily simmering tunes of Los Angeles-based Henry Morris evoke seedy love affairs and midnight rendezvous. Formerly one-half of the duo known as Playyard, which he started with college roommate Michael Sack in 2019, the 23-year-old singer/songwriter started releasing music under his real name just this year. Sharing four intoxicating singles that douse you in the sensual charm his melodies and lyrics have to offer.
As Playyard, Morris and Sack fully embedded themselves in an eclectic niche of alt-pop. Their debut EP A Sunny Place for Shady People syncs the raw storm of emotions that follows heartbreak to acoustic guitars and pulsating electronics. After the release, Morris decided to step out from behind the moniker — leading to a sea change in his sound as well.
His first single “He Could Never Love You” an intimate slow-dancing ballad where velvety vocals sway to the steady patter of drums and sizzling guitars. Morris returned with the fervid but similarly woozy “Dirty Magazine,” a saucy romp through desire made all the more enchanting by his lambent voice.
On “Nightclubs in Heaven” he wanders through a gloaming soundscape of twanging riffs and glimmering tambourine jangles, searching for salvation in a downpour of heartfelt lust. All three songs have revealed Morris to be an alluring conjurer of sweltering slow burners that capture all the glorious and messy sides of hot and heavy passions.
“Sweet N Low” is the newest addition and features another seductive switch up — the track filling the previously spacious atmosphere of his songs with a roaring swell of euphonious sound. “I hear my lover call / Singing slow, sweet and low,” Morris croons, his words enveloped in an ethereal and dreamy glow. “Ready to lose it all / There she goes, sweet and low.”
The track is a swooning tale of warning about making naive and foolhardy choices during the honeymoon phase of a relationship. Though it’s also just as quickly a bittersweet portrait of love’s blinding effect — and like many a human pricked by Cupid’s arrow — Morris can’t seem to shake themselves out of their enamored stupor.
Words: Steven Ward
Visit Henry Morris on his Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to “Sweet N Low” the newest single from Henry Morris below!
