Artist Close-Up- Moses Sumney Captures The Fuzz of Feeling In “Aromantic”
If Pink Floyd and Frank Ocean had a child, it would be Moses Sumney. Each act aims for the surreal of humanity, and so does Sumney in his new album, Aromanticism. It is as if they see the soul as something that lords above us rather than within, which is why, in reflection, Sumney fuzzes and fades synths like they were sonic whirlpool formed from situations. I had the pleasure to see Sumney live, and his music is an embodiment of him: beautifully eccentric. In tracks like, “Plastic”,”Quarrel”, “Imagine Being”, he treats love as if it were a supernatural being that leaves him elevating through high notes like Ariel giving her voice to Ursula. Yes, that is a Little Mermaid reference, but I use it with purpose. When Sumney goes for a high note, it rings glasses and bells that could compete with a Disney dance sequence. Moreover, like The Little Mermaid, Sumney gives his voice to the darkness of love assuming it will bring him light. In songs such as, “In My Car” or “Doomed” scales through his vocal notes like they are an inner harp his heart strums in both affection and mourning. He, like so many people, assumes love is salvation only to find that you need to have salvation already to gain love.
We are all guilty of it; the brazened assumption that love will heal our wounds, traumas, and prickly insecurities. Yet, as we progress in a relationship, we find… NOPE! Our lover may reveal our emotional wounds and even give us a few, new ones, but he or she does not heal it. Instead, in an irony that I will never understand, only we can heal ourselves. Others may hurt us, but salvation is insular and individual, which is why every synth, chord, and key is warped from quietly bright to zooming in danger and dare. You feel Sumney’s lostness with how intricate his instrumentals are arranged and choruses are layered and hooked to give a surrounding vibe. Like all of us, Sumney is on a journey to accept what love gives without expectations or disappointment for what it cannot. Hence, go on that journey with him by buying Aromanticism. Click Here.
