Carnival of Soul

At a time when his songwriting soul is responding to the nation’s deepening awareness of the toll of systemic racism, Morris finds himself captivated by the complex vocal harmonies of Baroque music.

“I’m putting out singer-songwriter records,” Morris said. “I used to listen to singer-songwriter records for years, and now I never listen to it.”

A yearning for harmony meets a search for answers in “American Reckoning,” which will be released Friday. In addition to the title track, which was released on YouTube in June, the songs on the latest album by Morris and his band, The Crooked Numbers, include “Entitled & Exploitative,” “Black Sheep” and “Half Crow Jim.” “Flutterer” was written by Morris’ friend Jamie Smith, a Colorado songwriter.

Morris, who wrote about music for The Daily Progress in the early 2000s, went on to record four well-received albums of his own — “Songs from Candyapolis,” “Love Wounds & Mars,” “The Dirty Gospel” and “Psychopaths & Sycophants.” He teamed up with producer and engineer Stewart Myers to record “American Reckoning” at White Star Sound.

Don’t expect an overtly Baroque approach, though; Morris’ musical journey steers more toward Americana, rock, folk and blues.

Although Morris doesn’t shy away from political content in his music, he wanted to focus on racial concerns in this collection.

“What I wanted was to make a concise statement on race,” he said. “I grew up in Georgia, and [race] is part of every interaction you have.”

Morris has spent years “watching the ways people were oppressed racially.” He began studying fascism and other oppressive systems. He started paying attention to golden boys and black sheep, to the entitled and the excluded. And before long, he was drawn into examining the role that pervasive narcissism has played in government and popular culture. He has been studying narcissism and its impact since 2007.

It’s a theme he explored earlier in “Psychopaths & Sycophants” and returned to with gusto as presidential campaigns heated up.

“It takes a great amount of narcissism just to run for office,” Morris said.

To begin with, there’s what Morris calls “healthy narcissism,” which gives candidates the boost they need to be outgoing on the campaign trail and make meaningful connections with strangers about ideas. As it worsens, “the most cutthroat people get ahead.”

“There are so many connections between fascist dictators and personality disorders,” he said. “So many of them.”

Music gives Morris a way to explore the pain of “seeing America turning selfish” and the effects of that selfishness on every level of society, cranked up by consumer culture and the constant presence of advertising messages.

“The whole culture is kind of narcissistic,” he said. “If you feel bad about yourself, you’ll buy products.”

Sticking close to home during the pandemic has given Morris plenty of time to write.

“I’ve probably got three records’ worth of songs waiting,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of great music coming; I promise you that.”

Baroque music may be soothing his soul these days, but singing and songwriting are providing the here-and-now power to bring big issues to a bigger world.

“What has had more effect on our country in the past 100 years, or 80 years, than pop music?” Morris asked. “That’s why I do it.”