Teen Daze: Morning World

In an eleven track album, Jamison of Teen Daze has created a dreamy, swirling soundtrack to life and nature. Jamison, the Vancouver native originally known for his atmospheric chill-wave tendencies has incorporated a full band when previously self-reliant on his sythns and computers. Occassionaly caught Djing, on Morning World Jamison strums his guitar and sings out his true feelings in the most delicate way yet.

Right off the bat, the opening track features a quivering violin and the deep sounds of a cello are the background to a slow entering drum beat. Leading into the second track Jamison sings softly, as piano keys keep time as he sings, “I climbed about the tree lines/saw the world in a new light.” The chords swim across the lyrics as he reflects about dreams and the sun. The following track, “It Starts at the Water” is atmospheric, searching and wandering between notes and sounds, drifting back and forth. With lots of reverb and the references to nature, it is the soundtrack to, literally a, “Morning World.” Every track Jamison sings of the sea, wind and trees. It is like waking up to birds chirping and the cool dampness of morning dew, running and exploring as you exit your front door. Piano keys, synths, and string instruments weave in and out as wind would blow leaves on a tree.

Morning World glows in its indie pop sounds, but this album is less about the synths as Teen Daze’s older albums exaggerate, like 2013’s Glacier, but what becomes central is Jamison’s singing. His vocals become a whisper, a soothing narration of waking up. A lullaby as you open your eyes, “Post Storm” is a lengthy 6 minute melody of just instruments and crisp chord progression for the first 5 minutes as Jamison interrupts singing about clouds and asking, “Where does life go when it’s done/A moon replaces a morning sun.”

Jamison finds a beauty by balancing between fuzzy guitars and atmospheric synths. On “Along,” one of the most notable tracks floats through gorgeous keyboards and hushed vocals. When listening to Morning World, the listener floats along with Teen Daze and enjoys the whole album as one continuous dream world.

Rating: 7.5/10


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