Morning Star

On My Place in the Dust, Morning Star delivers a dizzying collection of night music that would be comparable to a Morrissey Greatest Hits album if his work were half as accomplished. The album is the brainchild of Bristol native Jesse Vernon, who is backed by Jim Barr and John Baggott of the brilliant Portishead. Together, their songs place soul-rousing writing inside of atmospheres drawn from a Tom Waits dream of the afterlife. Never once flinching into pop accessibility, the album flows on a cloudy drone that peaks during the stellar fuzz of "This is For You” and ends with the rousing "Keepers of the Fire.” So while the nu-crooner revolution may not exactly be at hand, My Place in the Dust at least makes a good case for it.