Moses Sumney (born May 19, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, Mid-City Island, was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled Lamentations. His first full-length album, Aromanticism, was released in September 2017. His second studio album, Græ, was released in 2020. Sumney has performed as an opening act for James Blake, Solange Knowles, and Sufjan Stevens.[1]
Moses Sumney | |
|---|---|
 Sumney performing at Pitchfork Music Festival, 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | May 19, 1992 |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Labels |
|
| Website | www |
Early life
editBorn in California, Sumney was raised by pastor parents, and moved with his family back to Ghana at the age of 10.[2] He described his childhood as "Americanized" by this age and had difficulty adjusting to the culture of Ghana, especially the rural nature of his new environment. There he grew up on a goat farm in Accra and commuted by public bus to school.[3] His family returned to Southern California when Sumney was 16, settling in Riverside.[4]
He did not learn to play any instruments until he was older, writing a cappella music for years instead. Sumney did not perform his musical compositions publicly until he was 20.[1]
After high school, he moved to Los Angeles in 2010 to attend the University of California, Los Angeles.[5] He majored in creative writing and studied poetry, which helped him improve his songwriting.[6]
Musical career
editIn 2014, Sumney broke into the Los Angeles music scene and caught the eye of many record labels. He said at the time it did not feel right because labels were trying to conform him into a certain image and he was still trying to discover the artist that he wanted to be. He decided to turn down these labels and move to Asheville, North Carolina.[7] His resistance to labels is reflected in his later album, Græ.[7]
Sumney's 2014 debut project, Mid-City Island, is a five-song EP that was self-recorded onto a four-track recorder given to him by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. The self-released EP was described by Pitchfork as "primarily composed of first-takes and improvisation; the music is stirring but purposefully incomplete".[8] Sumney joined Terrible Records after the release.[9] He considers his songs to be performance based, and that many of his recorded compositions derive from fleshing the songs out through live performance.[10]
He has performed at venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and alongside artists such as Dirty Projectors, Junip, St. Vincent, and Local Natives.[1] Sumney sang on the opening track of Beck's album Song Reader.[3] On September 30, 2016, Sumney released Lamentations, an EP which featured a guest appearance from Thundercat.[11]
Sumney's first full-length album, Aromanticism, was released on September 22, 2017 by Jagjaguwar. It received acclaim from Rolling Stone,[12] The Guardian,[13] and The New York Times,[5] which also named it one of the best albums of 2017.[14] He stumbled across the term "aromantic" when he began writing it back in 2014 and found the term resonated with him.[15] Several songs from the album have been featured in the soundtracks of various television shows. His 2017 single "Doomed" appeared in the Season 6 finale of Netflix's Orange is the New Black, and appeared again in Westworld, Season 3, Episode 3, "The Absence of Field". His 2017 single "Quarrel" appeared in Netflix’s Dear White People. His 2017 song "Plastic" and his 2020 song "Keeps Me Alive" both appeared in HBO's Insecure. The songs "Quarrel", "Doomed", and "Swan Song" all appeared in the 2021 film Swan Song.
Sumney played himself in Season 1 episode 4 of HBO's Random Acts of Flyness.[16] He also appeared in the movie Creed and worked on the soundtrack alongside Ludwig Görannson and Tessa Thompson.
Sumney released his second studio album, Græ, in two parts in 2020. The first part was released on February 21, 2020,[17] and the second part was released on May 15, 2020, accompanied by a physical release of the double album.[18] In March 2020, he released the self-directed music video "Cut Me".[19] In May 2020, Sumney released "Bless Me" as a single from the second part of his album, Græ.[20]
In December 2020, Sumney's single "Me in 20 Years" was featured in a special episode of the HBO drama Euphoria.[21] Sumney contributed a cover of the Metallica song "The Unforgiven" to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021.[22] On December 8, 2021, Sumney released a full-length concert film, Blackalachia, recorded over two days in the Blue Ridge Mountains. An accompanying live album, Live from Blackalachia, was released on December 10.
Awards and honors
editIn 2018, Moses Sumney's self-directed music video "Quarrel" won a SXSW Film Festival Special Jury Award, and was nominated for a Camerimage award and UKMVA. In 2020, his self-directed video for "Cut Me" was nominated for a UKMVA for Best Alternative Video - International. Both of his albums have topped the year-end lists of Pitchfork, NPR, New York Times, Stereogum, and more.
Discography
edit| Moses Sumney discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| EPs | 5 |
| Live albums | 1 |
| Singles | 18 |
Studio albums
edit| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Sales [23] |
US Heat [24] |
BEL (FL) [25] |
POR [26] | ||
| Aromanticism |
|
— | — | 139 | — |
| Græ |
|
28 | 8 | — | 44 |
Live albums
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Live from Blackalachia |
|
Extended plays
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Mid-City Island | |
| Lamentations |
|
| Make Out in My Car: Chameleon Suite |
|
| Black in Deep Red, 2014 |
|
| Bryce Dessner: Tenebre (with Ensemble Resonanz) |
|
| Sophcore |
|
Singles
editAs lead artist
edit| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Man on the Moon" | 2014 | Mid-City Island |
| "Scratch the Surface" / "Forlorn Fantasy" | Non-album singles | |
| "Seeds" / "Pleas" | 2015 | |
| "Everlasting Sigh" | 2016 | |
| "Worth It" | Lamentations | |
| "Lonely World (Lamentations Version)" | ||
| "Doomed" | 2017 | Aromanticism |
| "Quarrel" | ||
| "Indulge Me" | ||
| "Rank & File" | 2018 | Black in Deep Red |
| "Virile" | 2019 | Græ |
| "Polly" | ||
| "Me in 20 Years" | 2020 | |
| "Cut Me" | ||
| "Bless Me" | ||
| "The Other Lover" (with Little Dragon) |
Non-album singles | |
| "The Unforgiven" | 2021 | The Metallica Blacklist |
| "Can't Believe It" (with Sam Gendel) |
Non-album singles | |
| "Get It B4" | 2023 | The Idol Episode 3 (Music from the HBO Original Series) |
| "Vintage" | 2024 | Sophcore |
| "Gold Coast" |
As featured artist
edit| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Show Me Love" (Skrillex remix) (Hundred Waters featuring Chance the Rapper, Moses Sumney, and Robin Hannibal) |
2016 | Non-album single |
| "To Believe" (The Cinematic Orchestra featuring Moses Sumney) |
2019 | To Believe |
| "Cul de Sac" (Trayer Tryon, Jónsi, and Alex Somers featuring Moses Sumney, Nicole Miglis, and Julianna Barwick) |
2020 | Non-album single |
Other charted songs
edit| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance [27] | |||
| "Tell Them" (James Blake featuring Metro Boomin and Moses Sumney) |
2019 | 23 | Assume Form |
Guest appearances
edit| Title | Year | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Title of This Song" | 2014 | Beck | Beck Song Reader |
| "Shed You" | 2015 | Tessa Thompson | Creed: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "Show Me Love" | 2016 | Hundred Waters, Chance the Rapper, Robin Hannibal, Skrillex | Non-album single |
| "Mad" | Solange Knowles, Lil' Wayne | A Seat at the Table | |
| "Cassidy" | Jenny Lewis & Friends | Day of the Dead | |
| "Truth Lies Low" | Andrew Bird | Are You Serious | |
| "Weekend" | 2017 | Flume | Skin Companion EP 2 |
| "Tell Them" | 2019 | James Blake, Metro Boomin | Assume Form |
| "U (Man Like)" | Bon Iver, Bruce Hornsby, Jenn Wasner | i,i | |
| "To Believe" | The Cinematic Orchestra | To Believe | |
| "Standing on the Horizon" | Woodkid | Woodkid for Nicolas Ghesquière - Louis Vuitton Works One | |
| "Tenebre" | Bryce Dessner, Ensemble Resonanz | Bryce Dessner: Tenebre | |
| "Blood in Rain" | 2020 | Ethan Gruska | En Garde |
| "The Unforgiven" | 2021 | Metallica | The Metallica Blacklist |
| "Insecurities" | 2024 | Shabaka | Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace |
| "Around the world in a day" | RM | Right Place, Wrong Person |
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Idol | Izaak | Supporting role | [28] |
| 2024 | MaXXXine | Leon Green | Supporting role |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Association | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | AIM Independent Music Awards | Independent Video of the Year | "Doomed" | Nominated | [29] |
| International Breakthrough of the year | Moses Sumney | Nominated | |||
| Libera Awards | Best Outlier Record | Aromanticism | Won | [30] | |
| 2019 | Video of the Year | “Quarrel” | Nominated | [31] | |
| 2020 | AIM Awards | Best Second Album | Græ | Nominated | [32] |
| 2021 | Best Independent Album | Nominated | [33] | ||
| Libera Award | Best Outlier Record | Nominated | [34] |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Out Of The Woods: Moses Sumney". VMAN. March 30, 2016. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Hutchinson, Kate (October 8, 2017). "Moses Sumney: 'I have an obsession with loneliness, singledom, isolation'". The Observer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Lough, Taylor. "Moses Sumney". Issue Magazine. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
- ^ Kameir, Rawiya (February 20, 2020). "Moses Sumney Is Ready to Claim His Spotlight". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Pareles, Jon (September 20, 2017). "Moses Sumney Does Not Sing Love Songs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ "Moses Sumney, A Choir of One". KCET. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ a b "Moses Sumney Puts The Industry Behind Him And Explores The In-Between On 'Grae'". NPR.org. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Cohen, Ian (June 4, 2015). "Moses Sumney: Lost and Found in L.A." Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ "Moses Sumney Pipes Up". The Fader. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Ellis, E. Ryan. "Moses Sumney". Flaunt Magazine. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Moore, Marcus J. (October 7, 2016). "Moses Sumney: Lamentations Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- ^ "Moses Sumney Talks Defying Genres, Romantic Myths on Audacious Debut LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ Empire, Kitty (September 24, 2017). "Moses Sumney: Aromanticism review – a single-minded star". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- ^ Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Russonello, Giovanni (December 6, 2017). "The Best Albums of 2017". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ Mahanty, Shannon (November 8, 2018). "moses sumney on aromanticsm: the lack of romantic attraction to others". I-D. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ "Random Acts of Flyness". IMDb. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Hussey, Allison (February 21, 2020). "Moses Sumney Shares Part One of New Album græ: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Monroe, Jazz (November 14, 2019). "Moses Sumney Announces New Double Album græ, Shares New Song "Virile"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ^ "Watch Moses Sumney's Excellent New "Cut Me" Video". Pitchfork.com. March 31, 2020. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "Moses Sumney shares dreamy new track 'Bless Me'". NME. May 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
- ^ "The Complete Soundtrack to HBO's Special 'Euphoria' Episodes". January 25, 2021. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ He, Richard S. (September 10, 2021). "Every Metallica Blacklist cover ranked from worst to best". loudersound. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Moses Sumney Chart History: Top Album Sales". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ "Moses Sumney Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Moses Sumney – Aromanticism". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Moses Sumney – Græ". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ "Moses Sumney Chart History: Hot Dance/Electronic Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Petski, Dade Hayes, Denise; Hayes, Dade; Petski, Denise (August 21, 2022). "'The Idol': HBO Releases New Teaser For Music Industry Drama". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "AIM Independent music Awards 2018 Nominees Announced". Proper Music Group. August 8, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ "Nominees - A2IM Libera Awards 2018". Guitar Girl Magazine. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "A2IM Announces 2019 Libera Award Nominees". Broadway World. March 28, 2019. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Atkinson, Jessie (August 17, 2020). "Tony Allen will receive a posthumous award for Outstanding Contribution to Music". Gigwise. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ Grein, Paul (June 6, 2021). "Arlo Parks Leads 2021 AIM Awards Nominations". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ "2021 Libera Award nominees announced". Guitar Girl Magazine. March 23, 2021. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
External links
edit- Official website
- "Tiny Concerts at Coffee Tables Near You". The New York Times, October 20, 2014.