Gurf Morlix (from the album In Love at Zero Degrees

Gurf Morlix (from the album In Love at Zero Degrees

Gurf Morlix (from the album In Love at Zero Degrees on Rootball Records) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Despite a career that dates back decades, one that includes nearly a dozen and a half solo albums with production credits on albums by Lucinda Williams, Slaid Cleaves, Mary Gauthier, Robert Earl Keen, and Ray Wylie Hubbard, among the many — not to mention induction into the Austin Music Awards Hall of  Fame, the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, and the Americana Music Association — Gurf Morlix’s music seems to have remained well below the radar.
 
‘I tear out my heart to make things right’ he declares on “Tear My Heart Out” which leads off the tellingly-titled Love at Zero Degrees, a concept album of sorts that details his despair. A quick follow-up to an album released earlier this year, Melt into You, it finds Morlix sharing his sentiments with both verve and vulnerability. The desire and disappointment conveyed in the title track echo the feelings that often accompany lost love, when one is forced to plea for its revival and return. ‘I fall down on my knees’ he sings, affirming his sense of desperation. Gurf Morlix manages to weave his way through those emotions with a slow saunter, and even when there’s some sense of possibility, as indicated by songs such as “Petals Fall” and “Fallin’ Into You,” the tone and tempo indicate it’s a tenuous bond at best.
 
Nevertheless, Love at Zero Degrees goes beyond its romantic references. Opening track “Lat’s Talk About Love” expounds on sentiments revolving around circumstances central to life in an uncertain time. ‘Talk about bravery, talk about heart, talk about passion, let’s talk about art’ he croons, emphasizing the need to find focus at a time when those things have seemingly gone astray. Not that Gurf Morlix can claim to have come up with the solutions. He confides his weariness with “Jessamine” and illuminates any number of sad situations on songs such as “The Depths of the Blues”, “Sad Story”, and “Burned Clean”. Given his raspy vocals and the deliberate pacing, the need for caution and concern becomes all the more apparent.
 
Ultimately, Love at Zero Degrees isn’t the kind of album one would want to play at a party, unless the intent was to drive guests home prematurely. However, it can be credited with laying the premise bare and facing up to the fact that the world today seems to be filled with more challenges than triumphs. It takes a bold and brave individual to soldier on, and given the evidence provided, Gurf Morlix manages to do just that. (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
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