Indie singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow shared his second single of the year yesterday, 2nd November. Titled ‘Gone’, it premiered on BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds With Annie Mac as the Hottest Record in the World.
With close to 40,000 Instagram followers, the singer explained the meaning behind the song. He described it as “a song about disintegration, about belligerence, about refusal to change even when change is the only thing.” He continued, “I wrote it as the start of a conversation with myself, but when you hear it, it’s whatever it means to you.”
McMorrow regularly moves between genres, making it hard to pin down his sound, but very exciting to listen to it. ‘Gone’ uses incredible beats and percussion sounds which fill out the instrumental almost entirely, while his husky vocals echo over the top, accompanied by some gorgeous harmonies.
Speaking to Mac on the radio show, the Irish singer discussed his sound, saying “I’ve always gone in with an agenda because I get very scared of what people will think of me,” but with his upcoming album “the idea of trying to fit a brief just seemed pretty ridiculous.” He also revealed that ‘Gone’ was the first song written for the new album, which will be his first in three years.
The album, will contain fifteen songs including earlier release ‘I Should Go’, as well as ‘Gone’. According to McMorrow, it was finished at the start of 2020, but he felt that there was more he could with it, and found that he finally had the time to focus entirely on his music during lockdown. ‘I Should Go’ is an incredible collaboration with Kenny Beats which – in McMorrow’s true style – has a powerful funky bass-line, R&B beats, and his classic folk vocals.
James Vincent McMorrow released his debut album ‘Early in the Morning’ in the US and Europe in 2011 after its success in Ireland, which was widely acclaimed. Featuring on Later…with Jools Holland, he then saw his music shown in American TV show Gossip Girl, and released three more albums in just three years: ‘Post Tropical’, ‘We Move’ and ‘True Care’. During this time he also composed a film score for a short film directed by Sam Benenati, created a cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ which was included in Game of Thrones, and collaborated with Kygo on the song ‘I’m In Love’.
