Music Things To Be Excited About in 2020: A Post List Season Refresh

As 2019 winded down, releases (like my writing) slowed to a near halt. Many looked back at the year as somewhat of a disappointment. Were artists hesitant to drop so close to all decade lists? Are all of our favorite artists bad now? Did managers fear the true arrival of Y2K in 2020 and a wasted tour budget after an apocalypse?

These all seem very conceivable.

Well, the apocalypse didn’t happen, and there’s a whole new end of decade list for artists to try and get on. Below I have some things that I’m intrigued about for the year 2020.

Moses Sumney — Grae

Sumney released his debut album, Aromanticism, in 2017 (which I wrote about here) to much critical — if not commercial — success. I first heard about him during a James Blake interview. Blake described his own anxiety after Sumney would receive a standing ovation from each of his performances as Blake’s opening act on a 2017 tour. After initially falling in love with his singles from Aromanticism, I returned to Sumney after the use of his song Doomed in the new movie, Queen and Slim.

Sumney’s music, at least in the one full-length we’ve heard, display delicate vocals and sparse production. His voice is clearly powerful when needed, but Sumney generally prefers restraint. His hooks stick quite well (Plastic and Don’t Bother Calling specifically), leaving you mumbling them throughout your workday. Make Out in My Car has a title and hook that seem to be destined for a pop hit. However, Sumney’s song writing seems almost determined not to let that happen. That’s not a diss, the pacing of the song is so beautifully meandering, that you find yourself comforted in his romantic pacing.

Sumney seems to sense his pop appeal, specifically in Make Out in My Car, as he turned the song into a four-piece EP. The project is made up of covers of the song, from Pitchfork heavy hitters including Sufjan Stevens and James Blake.

Sumney announced his second album, Grae, will be released in May this year. The first two singles, Polly and Virile are just a bit higher paced, although he still seems committed to not reaching that pop sound. Polly is driven by an acoustic guitar lick that Sumney vocally dances around, continuing to extend notes and sheepishly dominate his own production. Virile is a significantly more up-tempo, driven by a drum set beat and an electric guitar piece that drop out just enough times to let Sumney’s voice shine.

It seems like I’m not the only who’s been catching on to Sumney’s work recently, and anticipation is deservedly building for Grae. The album could be a chance for Sumney to boost himself into a larger social consciousness and find a fan base with similar solidity to that of his collaborators.

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