Musical auteur Kevin Morby shares a new song and an accompanying video, “Nothing Sacred / All Things Wild,” from Oh My God, out April 26th via Dead Oceans. Following the previously released “No Halo,” “Nothing Sacred / All Things Wild” blooms slowly, beginning with minimalistic percussion before swelling with gospel chorales and the occasional flutter of saxophone. The video, directed by frequent collaborator and filmmaker Christopher Good and produced by Andreina Byrne, presents off-kilter imagery – Morby walking barefoot through a greenhouse as children sleep on the floor, football players huddling in a cloud of smoke, a young girl’s ankles ensnared by vines. The result is a beautifully constructed exploration of oscillating time.
In terms of the song itself, it holds the key to the sound that Morby and producer Sam Cohen developed that ultimately would come to define the whole record. “‘Nothing Sacred’ was the moment that Sam and I stumbled into what would become the sonic landscape of Oh My God by breaking the songs down to their parts and doing away with a conventional band,” explains Kevin. “Rather than I play the song on guitar as originally intended, Sam suggested I only sing while he play organ and Nick [Kinsey], who is the drummer of my live band, play congas. Within moments of the first take it became clear what the record was to become, and how we wanted to represent the songs. What you’re hearing here is a first take and the sound of us walking into a new discovery.”
Throughout his past work, Morby has noticed the ubiquity of an apparent religious theme. Though not identifying as “religious” in the slightest, Morby recognizes in himself a somewhat spiritual being with a secular attitude towards the soulful. And so, in an effort to tackle that notion head-on and once-and-for-all, he sat down in his form of church—on planes and in beds—and wrote what would become his first true concept-album. If Singing Saw was Kevin’s LA record, and City Music was his ode to New York City, then Oh My God lives in the sky, above the weather, both nowhere and everywhere at once.
Finally, the short film “Oh My God,” directed by Christopher Good and starring Kevin Morby (and naturally featuring the music of Oh My God throughout), will premiere next Wednesday, April 3rd, in Los Angeles’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The short film, inspired by Kevin’s music and the album’s visual companion, will be followed by a solo performance by Morby.
KEVIN MORBY TOUR DATES
Wed. April 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery SOLD OUT
Sat. April 13 – Tonganoxie, KS @ Myers Hotel
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 * SOLD OUT
Fri. May 17, 2019 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
Sat. May 18, 2019 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater * SOLD OUT
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 Shepherds 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