Artist: James Vincent McMorrow
Album: We Move
Bitrate: 231kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Believe Recordings
Genre: Indie
Size: 77.35 megs
PlayTime: 0h 44min 18sec total
Rip Date: 2016-09-10
Store Date: 2016-09-02
Track List:
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01. Rising Water 4:56
02. I Lie Awake Every Night 3:19
03. Last Story 4:47
04. One Thousand Times 3:19
05. Evil 4:41
06. Get Low 4:10
07. Killer Whales 5:00
08. Seek Another 4:08
09. Surreal 5:38
10. Lost Angles 4:20
Release Notes:
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Until recently, Irish folk singer and songwriter James Vincent McMorrow only
existed in wisps. His delicate falsetto would vanish quickly back into the
silence of his sparse arrangements and his ideas were veiled and occasionally
incomprehensible, blurred as lyric fragments and extended metaphors. His
sophomore album, Post Tropical, was atmospheric in theme and tenor, relying
primarily on mood and melody to produce sensations. The beauty was in his
exquisite style and sound that buoyed arcane stanzas like, ôSomeone is ringing a
bell/It chimes through this shimmering shell/That once was my vision of
birth/But now itÆs my vessel and curse.ö But McMorrow has hinted at a desire to
be bolder and to fully realize his love of hip-hop and electronic music in song.
Post Tropical implied these connections existed, but it couldnÆt fashion them
into a working framework that made meaningful use of the components.
The first single from his new album We Move, called ôRising Water,ö signaled a
complete transformation was in store. The song reimagined McMorrowÆs standard
indie folk as a pop R&B jam. He kicked up the tempo with heavier drums, creating
layers of sound out of electro synths and pulsating bass. It distanced McMorrow
from his previously cryptic writing styleùwhich he has charitably called
ôesotericöùpresenting text thatÆs easier to follow. His voice was even
reintroduced on the track as a powerful and vibrant instrument. But more than
anything else, the song seemed to find his perfect balance.
ôRising Waterö was produced by OVO hitmaker Nineteen85 (the mastermind behind
three of DrakeÆs biggest successesùôHold On, WeÆre Going Home,ö ôHotline Bling,ö
and ôOne Danceöùand one-half of the R&B duo dvsn), who McMorrow met on tour in
2015 and worked closely with for We Move. Nineteen85 brings clarity and
sharpness to McMorrowÆs work, just as he does DrakeÆs, by only using the bits
that are functional and necessary. Operating alongside OVOÆs secret weapon,
Frank Dukes (another Toronto beat-maker who has worked with Drake, Travis Scott,
Kanye West, Rihanna, and Kendrick Lamar), and Two Inch Punch (who has written
and produced songs for Jessie Ware, Sam Smith, and Tory Lanez), have also added
more depth and resonance. McMorrowÆs music was once picturesque but idle, a
prisoner of its own tranquility. His songs were to be admired, but never fully
understood, and they didnÆt do enough with melody to overcome a static nature
and convey more than just ôvibes.ö
The songs on We Move subvert this established pattern. The ideas are articulated
much more distinctly than on past recordings, bringing added significance to the
gorgeous compositions. McMorrow still communicates most of his feelings through
high-pitched coos, but the notes carry more weight and they linger into richer
backdrops, like on ôKiller Whalesö and ôSurreal.ö The verses are
statedáplainlyáand the syllables are more than just conductors for sound. He
still leaves some of the mystery, divorcing many narratives from any context,
but the writing is much more striking now. ôLast Storyö is the best song heÆs
ever written, an epic drama about revisiting old romance that melds the
strengths of his two writing styles, remaining ambiguous without feigning
intimacy.
There are songs about heartbreak and loss; about trying to make it work and
moving on; about the many ways lovers can destroy each other, and about personal
growth. It isnÆt just about conveying a feeling anymore; itÆs about examining
them. Some songs ruminate on relationships, past and present. Others compile
shared experience. He asks rhetorical questions of anyone in earshot: ôAre you
hopeless like me?ö and ôHave you come here to save me?ö and ôWho battled here
for you to live?ö People saving each other is an ongoing theme, and We Move is
fascinated by the impact we make. Every now and then, heÆll say something truly
devastating like ôIÆm afraid to die without leaving a mark.ö This album,
perhaps, is the greatest reflection of that.
We Move is the album McMorrow has always dreamed of makingùthe one he tried to
make with Post Tropical: an elegant, hip hop-indebted record with a folk nucleus
that still hangs on every utterance, that advances on his tasteful croons.
(McMorrow, a noted fan of rap, has always wanted to transmit that spirit in his
tunes but lacked the direction; earlier this year, he said the original version
of Early in the Morning had all electronic drums that were created on a Korg
Tritonùa favorite tool of rap producers like the Neptunesùbefore he panicked and
changed it.) The songs on We Move marry his acoustic ideas with hip-hop/R&B
sentiment and programming, blending the two into something new and fluid. On
ôGet Low,ö the deep guitar licks settle into a thumping bass line. The chorus of
ôOhsö on ôEvilö slips into a skipping rhythm of hi-hats and washed-out synths.
At every turn, the music is fuller, less caught in suspension. ôIs it better to
live your life in shallow water or is failure drowning in the deep end?ö
McMorrow asks on ôLost Angles.ö In his case, leaving the safe alternative proved
to be the right choice.