Kevin Morby's forthcoming album, Singing Saw, comes out on April 15. It is Morby's first album on the Dead Oceans label.

The story of the album traces itself to the autumn of 2014, when Kevin Morby moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Mount Washington. The previous residents at Morby's new home left an upright piano behind, along with a few mysterious pieces of sheet music and an introductory book of common chords. A beginner at piano, Morby immediately sat at the new instrument and began composing the songs that would become Singing Saw.

The arrangements of Singing Saw were inspired by Morby's experience playing in The Complete Last Waltz, a live recreation of The Band's legendary last performance. There, Morby befriended producer/bandleader Sam Cohen (Apollo Sunshine, Yellow Birds), which led Morby to forgo recording in Los Angeles and take the songs that would become Singing Saw to Isokon Studios in Woodstock, N.Y, where Morby and Cohen completed the album.

Singing Saw's first single, "I Have Been To The Mountain," begins with a purposeful opening acoustic strum. "It's a song for those struck down by the hands of evil — senseless killings which have always overwhelmed our planet, but especially recently," Morby says. "It's dedicated to and inspired by the death of Eric Garner."

The video for "I Have Been to the Moutain" is directed by Phillip Lopez and stars dancer Nathan Mitchell. It portrays a man on his deathbed who, upon death, is reborn as an exuberant and jovial presence, performing for no audience in glum surroundings.

Watch the video below, and click the audio player above to preview tracks from Singing Saw.

Related

• Kevin Morby - official site