exploremusic

Marc Morrissette has an unusual singing voice. Well, it’s more of his tone—weary, reflective, not quite sad. His voice sounds fragile, but he comes across as a self-assured performer.

I’ve been listening to his band for a while, and I think Fortresses is their most rewarding release.

Once you get accustomed to Morrissette’s voice—think a young Chris Murphy of Sloan if you need an analogy—you’ll notice his intonation, his lyrics, and the music.

He generally leaves enough room to give the words a chance to sink in. The topics of the best songs are hard to summarize, but I picture Morrissette as a well-intentioned, cerebral outsider commenting on situations both real and imagined.

The band and special guests delve into alternative folk, and there are innocuous chord progressions backing up the vocals on several of the album’s tracks.

There are two kinds of standouts on Fortresses: the ultra-accessible and the "outside the box" structures. An example of the former is "Thirty Reasons," which is catchy and nice, for lack of a better word, without sounding deliberately so. "I Know A Nurse" is less conventional, with loose guitar-led passages alternating with Morrisette’s verses drawing you in, until both unite and the rest of the song takes you deeper and deeper.

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