Video: Kevin Morby, ‘No Halo’

Kevin Bronson on March 4th, 2019

0

Kevin Morby at Desert Daze 2018 (Photo by Samuel C. Ware)

“Oh My God” is as apt a reaction as any to the Current State of Things in the World, no matter what you consider deity, if you consider deity at all. It’s also the title of singer-songwriter Kevin Morby’s fifth album, out April 26 via Dead Oceans.

The pop auteur and maker of conceptual albums (2017’s paean to New York, “The City,” the latest) calls his new effort a concept album, an exploration of the spiritual in the broad sense, rather than an endorsement of a specific tribe. “Religion is around all of us,” Morby said in the album announcement. “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.”

The album promises to be an immersive experience, if the first single “No Halo” and its video, directed by Christopher Good, are any indication. The warm track is accented by hand claps, keyboard, flute and saxophone, with Morby waxing wearily on childhood. The singer’s younger self visits him in Good’s symbolism-filled video, a dream sequence that starts with six hand-clappers welcoming Morby to a restaurant that has a strange wait staff, a stranger menu and … angels. It’s a visual you’ll want to revisit.

Morby kicks off a tour in May featuring a band that includes the album’s producer Sam Cohen on guitar, along with Nick Kinsey on drums, Cyrus Gengras on vocals, Jared Samuel on keys and Cochemea Gastelum on saxophone.

||| Watch: The video for “No Halo”