“Am I vital, if my heart is idle? Am I doomed?”, Californian artist Moses Sumney asks on his debut album, his voice carrying the formidable authority of Prince and the late-night melodrama of Jeff Buckley. While those references sound hyperbolic, Sumney – a darling of the alternative world; appearing on Solange’s Mad and touring with Sufjan Stevens – is cut from a superior cloth to most singer-songwriters in 2017. On a concept album about lovelessness, he creates a cavernous feeling of loneliness using soundscapes similar to those Nigel Godrich explores. There’s a warmth too – the spritely Grizzly Bear strings, cosmic jazz, chintzy acoustic ambience and Thundercat on bass. He even finds elegance in the lyrics: “I’m not trying to go to bed with ya / I just want to make out in the car.” When music sounds this complete and absorbing, it’s a wonder we waste our lives chasing coexistence with sweaty, needy humans anyway.
