Shenandoah SOundcheck

Highland Reverie 

“There’s a kind of melancholy peace to their lyrics that makes you feel like it’s going to be okay.”

By Leif Stawarz, October 9th, 2023

Highland Reverie is a folk duo, made up of Luke and Madison Morris, native to the Shenandoah Valley. The roots of Appalachian music shine through just as much in their music as they do in their name. The word highland refers to the mountainous region that they came from, and the word reverie refers to a daydream or a trance, which is often used in music to refer to music that creates the feeling of a daydream or a trance. And Highland Reverie lives up to their name with their debut album, which was self-titled after their band – evoking a classic folk-americana style, their music creates a dreamlike state that leaves you wishing you were still caught up in their songs. 

They open the album with “Real World”, a song that really emphasizes the daydreaming reverie that their name refers to. The singer uses a long drive to fantasize about a simpler life with the background support of a fiddle, electric guitar, and blue grass drums. He sings of how the real world makes him tired, but his love is an escape from everything else that makes it so that “the real world ain’t that real” to him. This is a sentimental example of how the people you love can comfort you in hard times and provide empathy and assurance. 

Another standout from the album is the song “Adeline”, which follows through on the theme of escaping through daydreams and fantasies – the singer pleads with Adeline to roll the windows down and leave her world behind so that they can be free and pretend that they have time to be together. It’s a plea to escape from work and the humdrum of daily life and to live and enjoy life with the people you love. The singer uses imagery of the Appalachian Mountains, begging the muse to “chase the light, let the mountains make you feel alive”.  

Expanding on the theme of taking time with your loved ones despite the business of everyday life, “Room for Slow Songs” pleads with the listener to take time to really enjoy their life and show care to the people they love. This song contrasts the quick hustle and bustle of the city and the small-town urge to take it slow – to leave room to enjoy it and savor life. We all need to leave some room for the slow songs – nothing is urgent enough that you stop enjoying life and stop prioritizing the people you care about. She pleads, “Leave some room for the slow songs / ones that make you wanna feel” – we all deserve to feel in earnest without just moving on to the next thing and going through the motions.  

The album closes with a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “I’ll Be Here in the Morning”, closing the theme that flowed through most of the rest of the album of the singer’s natural urge towards freedom and “escape”. This song reverses those themes in a sentimental fashion – where the singer still has the urge for freedom, they hear the highway calling them and feel the winds of fate pushing them down to the railroad, they overcome that urge with the power of the love they feel for their person. They sing softly, backed by soft guitar, “I’d like to lean into the wind and tell myself I’m free / but your softest whisper’s louder than the highway’s call to me”. The singer is sacrificing their wants and what fate seems to have in store for them to stay with the one they love. This cover choice follows through on another theme throughout the album, which is prioritizing the ones you love above all else.  

This album is a love letter to Appalachia in every way. From the soft folksy instruments to the loving descriptions of the mountains in lyrics, appreciation for their Appalachian roots bleeds through every note. In each song, their lilting voices are in the driver’s seat with the soft flowing instruments supporting them in the backseat. They follow through on several themes throughout the album, creating not only a cohesive sound but a cohesive narrative thread for the listener to follow. Their songs make you feel wistful and almost peaceful, even when the subject matter is sad. There’s a kind of melancholy peace to their lyrics that makes you feel like it’s going to be okay. Highland Reverie is a strong debut album from artists that clearly paid careful attention to every detail of their music and created a cohesive story of love, devotion, and a daydream reverie.