Kevin Morby
Singer/songwriter Kevin Morby broke out of the shadows into a fruitful solo career, penning songs that meld Dylanesque lyrical mystique with rootsy production. Along with contemporaries like Angel Olsen and Kurt Vile, he represents a wave of sharp, indie-bred 2010s songwriters whose audiences have grown exponentially as they've come into their own. Morby's development was particularly quick, his vision taking shape in a string of well-received records that included 2017's pristine City Music, 2019's conceptual journey Oh My God, and 2022's deeply reflective This Is a Photograph, which saw the songwriter exploring themes of aging, family, and turbulent times. The next year, in addition to soundtrack work, Morby released More Photographs (A Continuum), an album reimagining the songs of This Is a Photograph as well as adding new material.
Based in Los Angeles, Morby originally moved from his native Texas to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, eventually joining the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project called the Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012. Following his move to L.A., Morby recorded a collection of songs with Babies producer Rob Barbato that was intended to be an homage to New York City. The new songs represented a stylistic shift into a more roots-oriented indie sound and also featured Babies drummer Justin Sullivan along with several other guest artists. Released in 2013 by Woodsist Records, the eight-song collection was called Harlem River and became Morby's debut as a solo artist.
In August of that year, Morby relocated from his Brooklyn dwellings to Los Angeles, quickly beginning work on what would become his second solo album, Still Life. The record was released on the Woodsist label in late 2014. His next LP was informed by two developments: he moved to a house with a piano and he played in the Complete Last Waltz, a group formed to pay tribute to the music of the Band. The first changed the way he wrote songs; the second meant he hooked up with fellow bandmate Sam Cohen of Yellowbirds and the two began collaborating. The recording of Morby's first album for his new label, Dead Oceans, took place in Woodstock, New York, and featured appearances from keyboardist Marco Benevento and Quilt's John Andrews on musical saw. Singing Saw was released in April 2016. The following year, a companion piece, City Music, was released. Recorded at the analog-centric Panoramic House studio in rural West Marin, California, and prominently featuring its 19th century pump organ, the album saw Morby channeling Lou Reed and Patti Smith in a collection of introspective vignettes.
It would be two more years before he returned with his fifth effort, Oh My God. The sprawling double album was semi-conceptual, with each song centered around loose religious themes. Adding to the concept of the album, some songs were stripped down to just one or two instruments rather than the relatively saturated instrumentation of Morby's other albums. A return to demoing songs on his cassette four-track resulted in the rough and gritty Americana of his acclaimed sixth full-length, Sundowner. The album arrived in October 2020 and included the song "Campfire" with Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield. The following year saw the release of Night at the Little Los Angeles, a four-track demo rendition of Sundowner.
His seventh album, This Is a Photograph, arrived in May 2022. The set was inspired by Morby reflecting on the aging process after his father experienced an unexpected medical incident. As his father regained his health, Morby traveled to Memphis, where he wrote the bittersweet, emotionally investigative songs that eventually made up the album. In January 2023, his soundtrack to the 2021 film Montana Story was released through Dead Oceans. In May of that same year, More Photographs (A Continuum) offered a revisitation and extension of Morby's most recent album, with reworkings of three tracks from This Is a Photograph and six new songs.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo
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Discography
27 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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More Photographs (A Continuum)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 26 mei 2023
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
This Is A Photograph
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 13 mei 2022
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Harlem River
Alternative en Indie - Released by Kevin Morby on 26 nov. 2013
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Oh My God
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 26 apr. 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Sundowner
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 16 okt. 2020
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Music From Montana Story
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 25 jan. 2023
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
I Hear You Calling
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 13 dec. 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
A Night At The Little Los Angeles (Sundowner 4-Track Demos) (4-Track Demo)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 8 okt. 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Gift Horse b/w I Was On Time
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 4 mrt. 2020
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Nothing Sacred / All Things Wild
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 28 mrt. 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
No Halo
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 28 feb. 2019
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Beautiful Strangers b/w No Place to Fall
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 26 mei 2017
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Singing Saw
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 15 apr. 2016
Pitchfork: Best New MusicAvailable in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
City Music
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 16 jun. 2017
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Still Life
Alternative en Indie - Released by Kevin Morby on 13 okt. 2014
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Harlem River Dub (Peaking Lights Remix)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Kevin Morby on 6 dec. 2018
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Virginia Beach
Hamilton Leithauser, Kevin Morby
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 12 okt. 2021
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Baltimore (Sky At Night) b/w Baltimore (County Line)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 25 okt. 2017
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Session 2018
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 8 mrt. 2018
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
My Name
Alternative en Indie - Released by Suicide Squeeze Records on 5 aug. 2014
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Moonshiner b/w Bridge to Gaia
Alternative en Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 12 aug. 2015
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo