Kevin Morby announces new LP ‘Oh My God,’ shares “No Halo” video
As teased yesterday, Kevin Morby is indeed releasing a new album titled Oh My God, which will be out April 26 via Dead Oceans. It's a concept album with spirituality at its center, though Morby is not a religious person, per se. "Religion is around all of us,” Morby says. “It’s a universal language and there is profound beauty in it. I’ve found it a useful tool within songwriting, as it’s something everyone can relate to on some level. There are religious themes or imagery in a lot of what I’ve done, so I wanted to get all of that out and speak only that language for a whole record. It’s not a born-again thing; it’s more that ‘oh my god’ is such a profound statement we all use multiple times a day and means so many different things. It’s not about an actual god but a perceived one, and it’s an outsider’s view of the human experience in terms of religion.”
Kevin made the album with Sam Cohen, who worked on 2016's Singing Saw and suggested this time that they strip the songs down to a smaller palette of sounds. "My other records had tons of colors, so we decided to keep this stark, like a painting that’s black-and-white with one vibrant blue." Kevin says it's his most fully realized record to date. The first single is the flute, sax and handclap filled "No Halo" and it comes with a video directed by Chris Good. (Clips from it and other videos he directed for the album were seen in that teaser video.) You can watch that below.
Kevin will be on tour this spring, and his band will include current members Nick Kinsey on drums and Cyrus Gengras on bass, with Sam Cohen on guitar, Alecia Chakour and Lauren Balthrop on vocals, Jared Samuel on keys, and Cochemea Gastelum on saxophone. Cohen will also open all shows of tour, including the NYC show at Town Hall on May 31 (tickets). He's also got solo dates in Europe this summer. All are listed below.
--
Oh My God tracklist:
1. Oh My God
2. No Halo
3. Nothing Sacred / All Things Wild
4. OMG Rock n Roll
5. Seven Devils
6. Hail Mary
7. Piss River
8. Savannah
9. Storm (Beneath The Weather)
10. Congratulations
11. I Want To Be Clean
12. Sing A Glad Song
13. Ballad Of Faye
14. O Behold
KEVIN MORBY - 2019 TOUR DATES
Sat. Mar. 2, 2019 - Phoenix, AZ @ M3F Fest
Wed. May 8, 2019 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel *
Fri. May 10, 2019 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst (Live in the Atrium) *
Sat. May 11, 2019 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
Mon. May 13, 2019 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
Tue. May 14, 2019 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
Wed. May 15, 2019 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Vancouver *
Fri. May 17, 2019 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
Sat. May 18, 2019 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
Fri. May 31, 2019 - New York, NY @ Town Hall *
Sat. June 1, 2019 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
Sun. June 2, 2019 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Mon. June 3, 2019 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
Wed. June 5, 2019 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House *
Thu. June 6, 2019 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark *
Fri. June 7, 2019 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Sat. June 8, 2019 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Fri. June 14 - Brussels, BE @ AB *
Sat. June 15 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg *
Sun. June 16 - Mannheim, DE @ Maifield Derby *
Mon. June 17 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
Wed. June 19 - London, UK @ O2 Sheperds Bush Empire *
Thu. June 20 - Paris, FR @ Le Cabaret Sauvage *
Sat. June 22 - Hamburg, DE @ Knust *
Sun. June 23 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega *
Mon. June 24 - Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall *
Wed. June 26 - Helsinki, FI @ Tavastia *
Fri. Jun 28, 2019 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser/Bar Brooklyn (solo)
Sat. Jun 29, 2019 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik (solo)
Sun. Jun 30, 2019 - Oslo, Norway @ John Dee (solo)
Mon. Jul 1, 2019 - Tromsø, Norway @ Blårock Café (solo)
Tue. Jul 2, 2019 - Bergen, Norway @ Landmark (solo)
Wed Jul 3, 2019 - Malmö, Sweden @ Babel (solo)
Fri. Jul 5, 2019 - Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain @ Vida Festival (solo)
Sat. Jul 6, 2019 - Madrid, Spain @ Copérnico (solo)
Sun. Jul 7, 2019 - Lisbon, Portugal @ São Luiz Teatro Municipal (solo)
Mon. Jul 8, 2019 - Braga, Portugal @ Gnration (solo)
Wed. Jul 10, 2019 - Biarritz, France @ La Côte des Basques (solo)
Thu. Jul 11, 2019 - Bordeaux, France @ Rock School Barbey (solo)
Fri. Jul 12, 2019 - Toulouse, France @ Le Théatre de Garonne (solo)
Sun. Jul 14, 2019 - Roubaix, France @ La Cave aux Poetes (solo)
Wed. Jul 17, 2019 - Istanbul, Turkey @ IKSV (solo)
Fri. Jul 19, 2019 - Dublin, Ireland @ The Grand Social (solo)
* w/ Sam Cohen