James Vincent McMorrow performs in The Current studio
by Jade
November 21, 2016
Releasing his third album in six years, James Vincent McMorrow has always been resourceful. "My career trajectory has been based on my circumstances," he says. "With the first record, I made the best thing that I could based on the situation provided to me … That's the story of my career: A slow, steady build."
That slow and steady build has brought McMorrow to The Current for the second time; this time, he is on tour supporting his third album, We Move. McMorrow played songs from the new album during an in-studio session hosted by Jade.
On We Move, McMorrow collaborated with Toronto-based producer Nineteen85, among others. McMorrow also made the move from his native Ireland to Los Angeles. "I've always been fascinated by Los Angeles," McMorrow explains. "I think as a music fan, it's always been one of the places that, historically, all the music that's come out of there has always been something that's intrigued me. Beyond the music, the mythology of it as well. I've always thought L.A. had something, and I kind of wanted to see what it was like."
Getting to know a new city a bit better fits with McMorrow's approach to his career and to his personal growth. He says that on his first album, Early in the Morning, he concentrated heavily on his lyrics and the metaphors within them; on his second album, he focused on the instrumentation in his songs as much as he did on the lyrics. With We Move, McMorrow put his previous experiences together and ditched the metaphors. "Ultimately, if I'm going to grow as a person, I'm going to get better at this and learn more about myself, which I guess is a huge part of why I'm doing this, then I need to say things that actually mean something substantial," he says. "That was the idea of this, to talk about something that is tangible and real to me."
That authenticity has reinforced McMorrow's thoughts about his role as an artist. "I get something out of singing these songs every night," he says. "The things that resonate with me tend to be the things that resonate with the audience, and it's those things which are truthful and honest."
Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session with James Vincent McMorrow.
Songs Performed
"Get Low"
"Killer Whales"
"Lost Angles"
All songs from James Vincent McMorrow's 2016 album, We Move, released on Faction Records and distributed in the U.S. by Burning Rope Records.
Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Jalen Russell
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resources
James Vincent McMorrow - official site
