Acclaimed UK vocalist Sarah Jane Morris and guitarist Tony Rémy unveil ‘The Sisterhood 2’, arriving on March 6th ahead of International Women’s Day with 11 new tracks celebrating the most influential female singer-songwriters of our time. The first single, ‘The Edge is Where The Magic Is Found’ written for Amy Winehouse is out today.
Many will be aware of The Sisterhood, the project Sarah Jane Morris and Tony Rémy unveiled in 2024, in which ten of the most notable female singer-songwriters of the Twentieth Century were the subjects of a unique song cycle. Morris and Rémy were already aware that ten was insufficient – others had to be included.
The momentum of writing and creating did not falter, and by the time of its earliest performance The Sisterhood had become twelve, with ink-undried songs for Patti Smith and the then so recently and so tragically departed Sinéad O’Connor being added to the ten originals. Since then, another nine have been written. Peggy Seeger, Etta James, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Armatrading, Janis Ian, Tracy Chapman and Amy Winehouse have become part of the project, brought together in a second volume of unsurpassed quality.
Morris says that there are three qualifying factors for a singer to be included in the sisterhood. First, all must be artists of excellence and originality. Next, they must be writers as well as interpreters. Lastly, almost all have understood that talent and success give them voices to communicate on subjects of conscience. They have accepted the responsibility which goes with opportunity, to act as witnesses, spokeswomen and champions for those whose voices are unheard. All possess courage and lead by example.
Longing To Be Free (for Peggy Seeger) is a powerful feminist anthem and biographical narrative of the events, relationships and causes of a legendary life in musical activism. For Sinéad O’Connor, Oh Mother My Mother is both Celtic elegy and Ovidian dream, in which Sinéad and her mother are reunited as birds beside an imaginary lake and attempt non-temporal reconciliation. For Tracy Chapman, I Can Hear Jesus Weeping, melodically enchanting, expresses a bitter reproach for the abandonment of those most in need of protection: ‘Pity us and pity those who cannot hear the children cry’. For Amy Winehouse, The Edge is Where the Magic is Found (out now) is a jazz ballad in which Amy herself would have delighted, and which focuses on the young singer’s artistry touching lightly on the tragedy of her fall. Love Wit & Stardust (for Dolly Parton) pays tribute to the woman who, perhaps more effectively than any other, communicates universal human values of inclusion, generosity and moral clarity to everyone, ‘from Heaven to the Grand Old Opry’. Joan Baez’s song, Always Both and Never, describes the paradox that militant non-violence risks deadly reprisal; this song recalls the heroism and sacrifice that co-existed with the hedonism of the Sixties. Sweet Mama Raitt (for Bonnie Raitt) is adorned with a perfectly fashioned vocal tribute: ‘Your songs make me feel like I’ve been talking with you’ – and pays special regard to Raitt’s extraordinary song about organ donation. The song for Joan Armatrading, Let Only Love Remain is a musical tour-de-force which displays subtle understanding of Armatrading’s art, while wrapping the enigma of her fiercely guarded privacy. The song for Patti Smith, Crazy Angel, is a beautifully sustained piece of performance poetry which owes quite a lot to Patti herself, but which is sharply expressive of intention. Patti’s art, in Morris’s hand, becomes a mirror of Smith’s own magnificence Also Known as Etta James (for Etta James) is a dark, pulsing number full of the atmosphere of danger which characterised the life of an uncompromising black artist in the America of her time. Janis Ian’s story, The Dignity of Love, artfully proclaiming human love in all its diversity, plays the album out with a gloriously sustained finale lasting over nine minutes, leaving the listener aching for more.
Sarah Jane Morris is aware of the power and quality of her vocal instrument, undiminished as she commands the stage through her fifth decade as an internationally acclaimed singer. Her intelligence, range and command of narrative structure and emotional truth are at their height. Her dramatic training enables her to deliver extended, super-demanding lyrics with flawless intelligibility. ‘The Sisterhood 2’ provides startling new material such gifts demand. With Tony Rémy (a friend and colleague since the nineteen eighties) she has found the ideal creative partner. They know each other so well, a mutual recognition of superlative standards and world-class practice, that their work proceeds with smooth understanding and absolute trust. Tony has long been regarded as one of the leading and most versatile guitarists anywhere in the world; he once replaced Clapton in Jack Bruce’s band, is a master of Soul, Jazz, Funk and African Blues and a composer of invention and originality. His role in The Sisterhood as co-writer and co-producer is the other half of a magical equation – the voice, the words, the guitar, the shared expertise, the endless knowledge of what is needed, and where to go for the answer to that need – Morris and Rémy have it all, and ‘The Sisterhood 2’ is their latest masterwork.
According to Sarah Jane, The Sisterhood is all about the passing of the torch from sister to sister. As we listen to these wonderful songs, we are quickly convinced of Sarah Jane as a bearer of that torch, and that this project is the definitive evidence of her rightful place among the very best.
See The Sisterhood performed live at 229 Great Portland St on International Women’s Day March 8th with a 12-piece band and a 30-piece masterclass choir. Tickets on sale now.