Maddie Morris: Skin

First published in the March-April 2024 edition of Folk London Magazine

I’ve been looking forward to more Maddie Morris since I stumbled onto their gorgeous EP

Upstream last year. Upstream gave us a taste of Morris, but Skin is them coming gloriously into

their own - a passionate, fierce album, ferociously optimistic even as it grieves.

The LGBTQIA+ community - which is to say, our community, my community - is no stranger to

grief, and Morris taps into that like lancing a boil, ready with balm and bandages (and

occasionally a bit of melodeon) to patch you up afterwards. Skin is an exorcism, raw and

devastating, but also a love letter - to self, to community, and to love itself, in all its forms.

Morris is a powerhouse performer with a rich voice and a gentle way with a guitar. Their lyrics

are poignant and playful, from the catharsis of “Marsha P Johnson” and “IT Teacher” to the

joyful and lilting folk of “Cedar Swamp,” and the arrangements here are perfect - full and

boisterous when they’re celebrating, introspective and soft when they’re contemplating, and

always rich, even when they’re simple.

This is an album not shy about what it has to say - personal and political - but at the end of the

day, it is a celebration, even as it mourns. That’s queer as folk.

SOPHIE SCHLEICHER