Ellis Mano Band: Morph Review
One of the most exciting things about music is that it exists all over the world in so many various styles and genres, just waiting to be discovered and listened to. I have to admit that I was not familiar with the Ellis Mano Band before reviewing their brand new release titled, Morph, through Blues Rock Review has reviewed the band in the past. The Ellis Mano Band is a Swiss blues rock band formed in 2017 by Chris Ellis (vocals) and Edis Mano (guitar); and additionally includes Severin Graf (bass), Nico Looser (drums) and Lukas Bosshardt (keyboard). This will be the band’s fourth album release, and since I was not familiar with the band, I took the liberty of traveling back and listening to some of their older material. The Ellis Mano Band is a very tight and experienced group, as evidenced by their earlier work and this newest project. Their first public performances from Morph were done in their 2024 support of Deep Purple’s German tour, which adds to the band’s credibility. The band has also received high rankings in the Swiss record charts.
Morph is ten studio tracks and one live track, which is the last on the album release. The first cut is a lighthearted tune titled, “Virtually Love” and is about an “A.I.” (artificial intelligence) being. Is there any such thing as perfect love? Maybe it is with a little help from “A.I.”. The fourth song on the album is “For All I Care” and it’s a real rocking number, supported by an official video release. There are some really nice instrumental pieces in this song. Turn it up loud to get the full benefit of everything that’s going on in this number. “Scars” is my favorite song from the Morph album and the bluesiest of all the tracks. The song asks the simple question of, “If I can’t get it right for me, how can I get it right for you?” Then it answers that question with, “I’ve got to let you go”. The song, “Stray”, is a clever number about a stray, street dog. I really enjoyed listening to this one, and for some strange reason, it made me think of the 1989 movie, “All Dogs Go To Heaven”. Worth mentioning is the final song on this album. “The Flight For Peace” demonstrates how talented these guys really are, in person. Again, nudge the volume up for full appreciation of this song.
Morph is a well done presentation with great arrangements and talented band members. It is obvious that they are veterans of the music business. They have received much attention and recognition in their homeland and surrounding areas. Hopefully, they’ll be able demonstrate their talents to a larger audience in the near future. This album is definitely worth checking out and enjoying for yourself. We can all look forward to what the Ellis Mano Band’s future holds.
The Review: 7.5/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Virtually Love
– For All I Care
– Scars
– Stray
The Big Hit
– Scars
