KEVIN MORBY
Marking his seventh studio record Kevin Morby returns with his latest offering This Is A Photograph. As with many creative outpourings, the source was not a chosen one nor intended to develop in the way that it did. Sudden events happen and it’s these unexpected upwellings of emotions that trigger some of the most honest and raw inspirations which result in a new body of work. The pertinence and deep significance of this album cannot be overstated considering its inception and family connection.
Born out of a terrifying and humbling event involving the health of Kevin’s father, This Is A Photograph precipitated a period of reflection and contemplation of mortality. We all know time is finite and often grapple with how fleeting life can be but is anyone ever fully prepared for the range of emotions one experiences during moments like this? “I wasn't” says Kevin, “which is why I think it made such an impact on me. We all know we only have so much time on this earth but there are moments that are very sudden and abrupt reminders that can be very scary, but at the very least, they remind us of life's fragility and to appreciate one another and each day we get to open our eyes.” Often events such as these will trigger a range of responses including the search for connection and meaning. For Kevin, it involved heading to Memphis and moving into the Peabody Hotel.
By extricating himself from familiar surroundings and taking the time out to reflect and ponder on what had just happened to his father and to a greater extent life, the time away proved to be extremely cathartic and enlightening for Kevin. As a musician, traveling to certain areas and paying mind to artists he admired but have since left us, was significant for him personally and for that of the becoming record. This included heading down to the banks of the Mississippi River to the spot where Jeff Buckley met his tragic end and also spending time in the neighborhood where Jay Reatard spent his last day. These excursions all served to align the feeling of here and now, past and present. Processing the range of emotions he was experiencing through an artistic filter helped orientate his perspective through a more relatable lens as Kevin explains.
“There was something peaceful in going on these sorts of tours through the past during such a terrifying time with the virus in the present. It felt like time-traveling inside a city-wide museum and I was just taking a tour of these lost icons lives. There was also something to the fact that I was thinking a lot about my family's lives, and my own life, and then in thinking about these different heroes of mine - famous musicians who had died young and often tragically - it humanized them in this way. Everyone is just a dreamer no matter who they are or where they come from, with different sized dreams, and everyone is seemingly seeking the same things out of life.” A refined and profound statement if there ever was one.
Nothing sharpens one’s focus on life, death, and the importance of those around us than that of tragedy or near tragedy. And within a time of inner contemplation, attention invariably shifts to one’s own legacy and the impact one has made. Upon further reflection of artists Kevin admires and seeing their place in the musical continuum, there came a point when Kevin reviewed his own role in the music community and the sphere of influence he has cast over so many existing and upcoming artists. Knowing the extent of that influence is hard to quantify and only time will tell but as Kevin tries to explain. “There are moments when I get messages from fans or see my name when younger bands are trying to describe their music saying things like “...for fans of Kevin Morby” when I remember that I have a decent sized catalogue at this point, and it’s surely made an impression on the current landscape. But I don’t like to think about how it will look a few decades from now. That’ll eventually come and it will be interesting to see what it looks like when it does, but for now - I just feel so grateful that there are people who take the time to listen.” A modest response from a modest man but Kevin is an artist measured in albums and not songs. It is true Kevin has a hefty back catalogue and it is true that history will be the ultimate judge but with one decade having already passed since the release of his first record Harlem River, it would be fair to say that Kevin’s stature as a formidable recording artist only grows with each passing year and every new record.
The challenge for any artist however is in sustaining their longevity through an ongoing process of creative renewal and invention. So considering the deeply personal subject matter This Is A Photograph tackled, it is fascinating to learn what new techniques and instrumentation Kevin harnessed in order to crystalize the sentiment and subject matter he explored on the album. Interestingly it was through the use of sound effects and an atmospheric essence that provided so much influence and direction on the record. “I used a lot of field recordings for this one. Things that felt very personal and directly related to the subject matter. Things like - I recorded some of the Mississippi River at the entry point of where Jeff Buckley apparently waded into the water on the night he drowned. I also recorded some field recordings of some different birds at the Memphis Zoo after reading that Jeff Buckley had applied for a job there shortly before his death. I spent a lot of time concentrating on the best and most intimate vocal sounds, too. I wanted to sound close, like I was in the listener’s ear”. Taking those field notes, and personal thoughts and developing them into an album does however require some additional musical talent.
This was ably assisted by a great many contributors who featured on the record. Some musicians Kevin had worked with previously and others he had not. Former touring pianist Oliver Hill and his mother Meg and sister Charlotte provided strings. Touring compatriots Cochemea Gastelum (saxophone), Jared Samuel (organ) and Alecia Chakour (vocals, tambourine) joined the sessions as well as Eric Johnson (banjo). And new collaborators like drummer Josh Jaeger (drums, percussion), Brandee Younger (harp), Makaya McCraven (drums), Cassandra Jenkins (vocals) and even Tim Heidecker and Alia Shawkat (the unhinged laughs on 'Rock Bottom') added to the developing picture. Imparting the personal experiences Kevin went through onto others and having them interpret that musically is something that extends beyond musicianship and into that of an orchestrator. Kevin’s method for expressing the spiritual backbone of the record to those he worked with was a piecemeal process as he explains, “It’s usually a track-by-track basis, but I do usually try to give people the backstory so they can sort of get inside the song and play off of the subject matter. I do think that’s important.” The harmony this created amongst the musicians resulted in a consensus for what was being laid down on tape and producing what some critics have described as Kevin’s greatest work to date.
Often an album is a creative release that affords a musician an opportunity to process a range of emotions and sieve them through a cathartic filter. The resulting body of work is if nothing else an honest reflection of that inner contemplation. This does however present something of a dilemma in that once completed, where does it leave those sets of emotions that triggered the album in relation to the future and the freedom to move forward as an artist and an individual who continually seeks to grow, experiment and learn. As Kevin reiterates, “I think anytime someone makes a record it keeps one foot in the past and one in the future. One in the past because - you’re constantly reliving all of these old stories and emotions. A big part of this record was thinking about exactly what a record is. I mean think about what the word record means - it’s an object documenting the past. But also every record affords you a future and new experiences - so it’s a little of both all at once”. This Is A Photograph, as with all of Kevin’s records has a rich storytelling narrative throughout which is an enduring testament to his originality, lyricism and songwriting.
Creating evocative and vivid scenes that pair so beautifully with his music requires a certain methodology and the way in which Kevin channels those thoughts into an auditory story happens in a very clear and certain way as he explains. “I almost always write the music first and use that as a foundation to tell a story. This means I never know exactly what kind of story I want to tell until I have the music to play off of. With that said, I often have a lot of loose lyrics floating in my head or in my notebooks. Little scraps that I know I’ll eventually use when I find some music to put them to. Once the music is in place it’ll often bring or inspire lyrics to just sorta come out”. After pinning those thoughts down and editing those scribbles comes the coalescence of a song and an album. But with so many songs rooted in deeply personal experiences, taking that to the stage can be something altogether different.
Reconciling those thoughts and feelings from the confines of one’s own personal safe place to sharing them with the world is something that only a musician can describe. “It’s something I just can’t think about too much or it’ll sort of give me vertigo. For whatever reason, during the downtime of the pandemic, it suddenly felt insane to me that I ever shared so much of myself. I mean - I'm shirtless on the cover of Oh My God! How insane is that?! But I like to believe that all of these parts of myself and my writing will be relatable to other people and I’m in service to them. Plus - I do love it, especially playing live. It’s all like therapy to me”. Yet sometimes it is the comfort one finds in words of wisdom that have been uttered by fellow musicians and artists that helps bridge the gap between personal and private. As Kevin recalls, “My favorite saying when it comes to music, and life in general, is “you can have it all, just not in one day”. I think so much of music is the slow burn and putting one foot in front of the other. To succeed is to keep going forward no matter what that looks like and you have to be sure to count your successes. The big ones of course, but the small ones too. Don’t take those small ones for granted, they’re often the most important ones”.
That is a message that has been driven home by the recent events in Kevin’s life and is a phrase that is so fitting for this album. A mantra for Kevin and a man with his own family, his own life and a creative career that continues to grow exponentially. You can have it all, just as his father did, just not in one day.
