Kevin Morby Announces New Album This Is a Photograph, Shares Title Track

The ever-prolific Kevin Morby has a new album on the way, his follow-up to 2020’s Sundowner. This Is a Photograph is due out May 13 on Dead Oceans, with its title track and accompanying music video out now, along with new Morby world tour dates.

This Is a Photograph, Morby’s seventh solo album, is described in a press release as not only a collection of “his finest songs, his best vocal performances, his most incisive lyrics and his most lush arrangements,” but also as “unquestionably his magnum opus to date.” Morby wrote the album in Memphis, and reunited with Singing Saw and Oh My God producer Sam Cohen to record it, both at Cohen’s upstate New York studio and Sam Philip’s Recording Co. in Memphis—the latter location is where “This Is a Photograph” was recorded live, featuring backing harmonies from Stax Academy of Music alumni.

The album as a whole features a sprawling cast of collaborators, including: Nick Kinsey (drums); Morby’s former touring pianist Oliver Hill; his mother Meg and sister Charlotte (strings); his touring compatriots Cochemea Gastelum (saxophone), Jared Samuel (organ) and Alecia Chakour (vocals, tambourine); Eric Johnson (banjo); and new collaborators Josh Jaeger (drums, percussion), Brandee Younger (harp), Makaya McCraven (drums), Cassandra Jenkins (vocals), and Tim Heidecker and Alia Shawkat (who contribute “unhinged laughs” on “Rock Bottom”).

“This Is a Photograph” finds Morby reminiscing over rustic, propulsive Southern rock: “This is a photograph, a window to the past / Of your father on the front lawn, with no shirt on,” he describes, referencing the Morby family photo that inspired the entire album. Various tapped and hand-drummed percussion, and, eventually, Cohen’s bass, keep the track moving swiftly, even as Morby sinks wistfully into the past. But what he’s ultimately doing is appreciating the present, in a way that will last him into the future: His refrain goes, “This is what I’ll miss about being alive.”

“Sam Cohen and I wanted to throw everything at the wall with this one,” says Morby of the track in a statement. “It’s about the battle every family faces, that of chasing the clock, to live our lives and hold onto one another for as long as possible. That, and, the dreams that come with being a young family in America and where those dreams eventually end up.”

Morby’s “This Is a Photograph” video was directed by Chantal Anderson and shot in an unidentified, remote town in California. Morby family photos (as well as archival photos from the Peter J. Cohen Collection) are edited into the clip, amplifying its nostalgic feel.

Watch the video below, and see the details of Morby’s forthcoming album and upcoming tour dates further down.

This Is a Photograph Tracklist:


01. Intro

02. This Is A Photograph

03. A Random Act Of Kindness

04. Bittersweet, TN

05. Disappearing

06. A Coat Of Butterflies

07. Rock Bottom

08. Forever Inside A Picture

09. Five Easy Pieces

10. Stop Before I Cry

11. It’s Over

12. Goodbye To Good Times

This Is a Photograph Art:

Kevin Morby Tour Dates:

May


20 – Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas

21 – Biarritz, FR @ L’Atabal

22 – Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore

23 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey

24 – Paris, FR @ Le Bataclan

25 – Köln, DE @ Kulturekirche

26 – Antwerpen, BE @ De Roma

28 – London, UK @ Wide Awake at Brockwell Park

29 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg

30 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich

31 – Berlin, DE @ Metropol

June


01 – Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur

03- Angers, FR @ Levitation

04 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative de Mai

05 – Lille, FR @ Aéronef

July


03 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Summer

04 – Terni, IT @ Anfifteatro Romano

06 – Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara

07 – Budapest, HU @ Akvárium Klub

08 – Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival

09 – Zittau, DE @ Lonesome Lake Festival

11 – Vienna, AT @ WUK

12 – Munich, DE @ Ampere

13 – Bern, CH @ Gurtenfestival

15 – Lisbon, PT @ Super Bock Super Rock

August


21 – Erlanger, DE @ Ewerk

22 – Hannover, DE @ Café Glocksee

24 – Copenhagen, DK @ Punpehuset

27 – Prague, CZ @ Meetfactory

28 – Darmstadt, DE @ Golden Leaves Festival

31 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk

September


03 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival

04 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall

05 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand

06 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club

07 – Dublin, IE @ Academy

28 – Sonoma, CA @ Historic Redwood Barn *

29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *

October


01 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco *

03 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole *

05 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *

10 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall *

11 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Nightclub *

12 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater *

14 – Memphis, TN @ The Bluff *

15 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East *

16 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *

18 – Jacksonville, FL @ Intuition Ale Works *

20 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *

21 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall *

22 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %

24 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %

25 – Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall %

26 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall %

28 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall %

29 – Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag %

31 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre %

November


01 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom %

02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe %

03 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon %

05 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre %

06 – Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s %

08 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The CommonWealth Room %

10 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %

11 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox %

12 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre %

(* w/ Cassandra Jenkins)

(% w/ Coco)