Moses Sumney

Moses Sumney (born May 19, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter based in Asheville, North Carolina. 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 Dirty Projectors, Junip, and Sufjan Stevens.[2]

Moses Sumney
Sumney performing at Pitchfork Music Festival (2018)
Background information
Birth nameMoses Sumney
Born (1991-05-19) May 19, 1991
San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active2014–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitewww.mosessumney.com

Early life

Sumney was born in San Bernardino, California to Ghanaian parents. He moved with his family back to Ghana at the age of 10. Sumney described his childhood as "Americanized" by this age and had difficulty adjusting to the culture of Ghana.[3] His family returned to Southern California when Sumney was 16, settling in Riverside, California [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.[2]

He attended the University of California, Los Angeles.[5] He majored in creative writing and studied poetry, which helped him improve his songwriting.[6]

Musical career

In 2013, Sumney attempted to break into the Los Angeles music scene and he 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 debut in 2014, Mid-City Island, is a five-song EP that was self-recorded onto a four-track recorder given to him by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. The 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.[2]

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.[1]

Sumney's first full-length album, Aromanticism, was released on September 22, 2017 by Jagjaguwar. It received acclaim from Rolling Stone,[11] The Guardian,[12] and The New York Times,[5] which also named it one of the best albums of 2017.[13] He stumbled across the term "aromantic" when he began writing it back in 2014 and found the term resonated with him.[14] 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.

Sumney played himself in Season 1 episode 4 of HBO's Random Acts of Flyness.[15]

Sumney released his second studio album, Græ, in two parts in 2020. The first part was released on February 21, 2020,[16] and the second part was released on May 15, 2020, accompanied by a physical release of the double album.[17]

In March 2020, he released the self-directed music video "Cut Me".[18]

In May 2020, Sumney released "Bless Me" as a single from the second part of his album, Græ. [19]

In December 2020, Sumney's single "Me in 20 Years" was featured in a special episode of the HBO drama Euphoria.[20]

Awards and honors

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.[21][22]

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected information
Title Details Peak chart positions
US
[23]		 US
Heat
[24]		 BEL
(FL)
[25]		 POR
[26]
Aromanticism
  • Released: September 22, 2017
  • Label: Jagjaguwar
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download
 ——139—
Græ
  • Released: May 15, 2020[17]
  • Label: Jagjaguwar
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
 288—44

Extended plays
  • Mid-City Island (2014)
  • Lamentations (2016)
  • Make Out in My Car: Chameleon Suite (2018)
  • Black in Deep Red (2018)

Singles
Title Year Album
"Man on the Moon" 2014 Mid-City Island
"Seeds / Pleas" 2015 Non-album singles
"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 single

Guest appearances
List of guest appearances as featured artist, with the respective artists and albums
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
"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

References
  1. Moore, Marcus J. (7 October 2016). "Moses Sumney: Lamentations Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. "Out Of The Woods: Moses Sumney". VMAN. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  3. Lough, Taylor. "Moses Sumney". Issue Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  4. Kameir, Rawiya (20 February 2020). "Moses Sumney Is Ready to Claim His Spotlight". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. Pareles, Jon (20 September 2017). "Moses Sumney Does Not Sing Love Songs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  6. "Moses Sumney, A Choir of One". KCET. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  7. "Moses Sumney Puts The Industry Behind Him And Explores The In-Between On 'Grae'". NPR.org. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  8. Cohen, Ian (4 June 2015). "Moses Sumney: Lost and Found in L.A." Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  9. "Moses Sumney Pipes Up". The Fader. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  10. Ellis, E. Ryan. "Moses Sumney". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  11. "Moses Sumney Talks Defying Genres, Romantic Myths on Audacious Debut LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  12. Empire, Kitty (24 September 2017). "Moses Sumney: Aromanticism review – a single-minded star". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  13. Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Russonello, Giovanni (6 December 2017). "The Best Albums of 2017". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  14. Mahanty, Shannon (8 November 2018). "moses sumney on aromanticsm: the lack of romantic attraction to others". i-D. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. "Random Acts of Flyness". IMDb. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  16. Hussey, Allison. "Moses Sumney Shares Part One of New Album græ: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  17. Monroe, Jazz (14 November 2019). "Moses Sumney Announces New Double Album græ, Shares New Song "Virile"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  18. "Watch Moses Sumney's Excellent New "Cut Me" Video". Pitchfork.com. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  19. "Moses Sumney shares dreamy new track 'Bless Me'". NME. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  20. https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a34875684/euphoria-special-episode-part-1-2-soundtrack-songs/
  21. "Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees". Queerty. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  22. Tracer, Daniel (15 July 2020). "These musicians became queer role models young fans need, and they're changing the world for good". Queerty. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  23. "Moses Sumney Chart History: Top Album Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  24. "Moses Sumney Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  25. "Ultratop.be – Moses Sumney – Aromanticism". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  26. "Portuguesecharts.com – Moses Sumney – Græ"". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
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