Kansas City musician Kevin Morby has been very productive over the past years: His debut album came out in 2013, and he’s already released four albums total. Now he has announced that his fifth is on its way: Oh My God will be released on April 26 via Dead Oceans.
Morby said of the record, “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.” That rings true in the video he shared for the song “No Halo”: The clip for the bluesy track is shadowy, but it it features highlights like a woman with a burning head and a character modeled after Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz flying on a broom.
Morby also said that the album is about religion, but also not:
“Religion is around all of us. 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. […]
This one feels full circle, my most realized record yet. It’s a cohesive piece; all the songs fit under the umbrella of this religious theme. I was able to write and record the album I wanted to make. It’s one of those marks of a life: this is why I slept on floors for seven years. I’ve now gotten the keys to my own little kingdom, and I’m devoting so much of my life to music that I just want to keep it interesting. At the end of the day, the only thing I don’t want is to be bored. If someone wants to get in my face about writing a non-religious religious record? Thank god. That’s all I gotta say.”
Watch the video for “No Halo” above, and below, find the Oh My God album art and tracklist, as well as Morby’s upcoming tour dates.
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”
3/02 — Phoenix, AZ @ M3F Fest
5/08 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel *
5/10 — Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst (Live in the Atrium) *
5/11 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
5/13 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
5/14 — Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
5/15 — Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Vancouver *
5/17 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
5/18 — Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
5/31 — New York, NY @ Town Hall *
6/01 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
6/02 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
6/03 — Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
6/05 — Toronto, ON @ The Opera House *
6/06 — Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark *
6/07 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
6/08 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
6/14 — Brussels, BE @ AB *
6/15 — Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg *
6/16 — Mannheim, DE @ Maifield Derby *
6/17 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
6/19 — London, UK @ O2 Sheperds Bush Empire *
6/20 — Paris, FR @ Le Cabaret Sauvage *
6/22 — Hamburg, DE @ Knust *
6/23 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega *
6/24 — Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall *
6/26 — Helsinki, FI @ Tavastia *
6/28 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser/Bar Brooklyn (solo)
6/29 — Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik (solo)
6/30 — Oslo, Norway @ John Dee (solo)
7/01 — Tromsø, Norway @ Blårock Café (solo)
7/02 — Bergen, Norway @ Landmark (solo)
7/03 — Malmö, Sweden @ Babel (solo)
7/05 — Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain @ Vida Festival (solo)
7/06 — Madrid, Spain @ Copérnico (solo)
7/07 — Lisbon, Portugal @ São Luiz Teatro Municipal (solo)
7/08 — Braga, Portugal @ Gnration (solo)
7/10 — Biarritz, France @ La Côte des Basques (solo)
7/11 — Bordeaux, France @ Rock School Barbey (solo)
7/12 — Toulouse, France @ Le Théatre de Garonne (solo)
7/14 — Roubaix, France @ La Cave aux Poetes (solo)
7/17 — Istanbul, Turkey @ IKSV (solo)
7/19 — Dublin, Ireland @ The Grand Social (solo)
* with Sam Cohen
Oh My God is out 4/26 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.
