Drawing on a mishmash of influences to create a sprawling, genre-defying style of music which he has previously described as a fusion of art rock and Black Classical, Californian singer-songwriter Moses Sumney has soared to prominence since first introducing the world to his supple vocals and avant-garde arrangements in 2014. Born in San Bernardino on May 19th, 1991, partially raised in his parents’ homeland of Ghana, and eventually based out of Asheville, North Carolina, Sumney first cut his teeth in the industry as a music journalist, learning the tricks of the trade and making some valuable connections along the way. He debuted as a singer and guitarist in 2014 with the ethereal, acoustic offering “Man on the Moon”, a self-released precursor to his first EP, Mid-City Island, which arrived later the same year. After a brief stint on independent label Terrible Records and a string of high-profile collaborations with Beck, Hundred Waters, Chance The Rapper and Skrillex, he inked a deal in 2016 with prominent indie imprint Jagjaguwar, with whom he quickly released his second EP, Lamentations. Complete with bass guitar contributions from Thundercat, the project drummed up significant critical acclaim, neatly segueing into the release of Sumney’s 2017 debut album, Aromanticism. Packed with ponderings on 21st century relationships and modern masculinities, it achieved widespread praise, also reaching #139 in the Belgian charts. With its lead single, “Doomed”, featured in the hit TV series Orange Is the New Black and Westworld, he continued to raise his profile, later inviting cult favourites Sufjan Stevens and James Blake to reinterpret the album track “Make Out in My Car” on a 2018 remix EP. Between further collaborations with like-minded stars including Blake, Bon Iver and Woodkid, Sumney found the time to complete a sophomore album, græ, which arrived in two instalments in the first half of 2020, peaking at #28 on the Billboard 200.
