Daily Discovery: Lose Yourself in the Lo-Fi Folk-Soul Sound of Moses Sumney's Debut EP

None

Daily Discovery is a feature that will highlight a new or recently discovered artist that we’re excited about. See the rest of our Daily Discoveries here.



Moses Sumney is heading on tour with Local Natives and has just completed a month long residency at The Bootleg Theater in Echo Park, but the Mid-City Island EP, which comes out tomorrow (April 8), is his first official release. Really, this is a Daily ReDiscovery, as we posted some of Moses’ musical experiments back in mid-2013, when he was still discovering how to best use his uniquely raw and soulful voice.

With the debut EP streaming now, growing recognition, and a Soundcloud page that shows Moses’ versatility, we’re excited to see what he does next. Read what Moses has to say about the EP and what’s behind it, and listen to the whole thing below.

I started making “Mid-City Island” in the fall, after a producer friend lent me an ’80s 4-track recorder and suggested I try recording myself before going into proper studio sessions. It was my first time recording myself, capturing songs immediately to cassette tape as I was writing them. I belatedly decided it would be cool to share these ideas in their infancy so you can trace their development over time.


This project for me is about learning how to let go and share ideas that are raw, simple, and unfiltered. A lot of the parts are thus one-take and improvised. “Mumblin’,” which I recorded with my loop pedal connected to the tape machine, is completely made up on the spot and was only done once. There’s a requisite honesty that comes with bedroom recordings.


Thematically, the songs center around living alone in the middle of a big city like Los Angeles, finding the balance between isolation and over stimulation.

Check out more from Moses Sumney here.

Tour Dates: 

April 9                         Stubbs Bar-BQ                                   Austin, TX*

April 12                      Varsity Theatre                                 Baton Rouge, LA*

April 14                      Revolution Live                                  Fort Lauderdale, FL*

April 16                      State Theatre                                     St. Petersburg, FL*

April 17                      Free Bird Live                                    Jacksonville, FL*

April 18                      The Bijou Theatre                             Knoxville, TN*

April 19                      The Fillmore Charlotte                     Charlotte, NC*

April 21                      The Orange Peel                               Asheville, NC*

April 22                      House of Blues Cleveland                 Cleveland, OH*

April 24                      The Pageant                                      St. Louis, MO*

April 25                      Granada                                             Lawrence, KS*

April 26                      Ogden Theatre                                  Denver, CO*

April 29                      The Blue Note                                    Columbia, MO*

April 30                      Ryman Auditorium                           Nashville, TN*

May 5                         Hollywood Forever                           Los Angeles, CA

*In support of Local Natives

+In support of  Tune-Yards

latest_stories_pigeons-and-planes