Morning Ritual is the musical project of Portland musician Ben Darwish. The group features Darwish’s collaborations with different female vocalists. The group also features multi-instrumentalist William Seiji Marsh and drummer Russ Kleiner. Their unique sound is marked with inventive melodies, hybrid tones, and pulsing vocal harmonies over tight-knit piano-driven grooves. Currently producing a series of song cycles, their first piece, “The Clear Blue Pearl”, is a collaboration with unique sister-singers, Shook Twins. The music incorporates folk and other styles such as dubstep and jazz. Their second long-form composition, “Solitary Monastery”, is an R&B-leaning piece that uses “glitch vocals”, a rhythmic vocal technique that defies most modern music. It features Arietta and Nafisaria Scroggins, another sister-duo that have a wildly unique sound.
Touching on nearly every genre, Morning Ritual is hard to define. Each piece fuses different musical influences within the framework of a style that’s all their own. Instead of a series of single songs, their live performance is best described as an “experience” which will transcend your expectation of a live concert.
