Young L.A. singer-songwriter Moses Sumney works with familiar elements, but he likes to arrange them in unexpected and captivating ways. Listening to one of his songs for the first time can feel like walking into your living room only to find that someone has moved all of your furniture around, drawing out something in the space you couldn't quite find on your own. His new single for Terrible, "Seeds", mixed by label boss/Grizzly Bear veteran Chris Taylor, is a good example. At different points, Sumney summons Jessica Pratt's homey nylon mysticism and Tunde Adebimpe's earthy, sensual vocal work with TV on the Radio.
The song really takes off when Sumney collects those pieces and renders them opaque, lets them float in something heavier than air, submerges them like treasure tucked within a sunken ship. It’s the sort of thing Taylor’s band did so well on fine albums like Veckatimest and Shields: the use of sound to make you feel like you’re intruding on something close to holy. Once it’s finished, "Seeds" can’t help but inspire curiosity; I found myself going back to the beginning and cracking it open like a pea pod, eager to figure out its inner workings. You’ve heard these sounds before, but never quite like this.
Moses Sumney: "Seeds" on SoundCloud.