Aromanticism
MOSES SUMNEY
“Aromanticism shows how remarkable Moses Sumney’s songwriting is. Even at a fairly early stage of his career, Sumney is able to show a level of maturity and detail in his craft that very few artists are able to display.”
Recommended For:
Fans of singer/songwriters like Dirty Projectors
Fans of alt-R&B artists like Sampha, James Blake or Solange
People into electronic production
Pros:
Beautiful and clever production
Impressive and distinct vocals
Great songwriting
Cons:
Too short!
Too many filler tracks
Singer/songwriter Moses Sumney made waves in the music press world with a string of EPs that he released starting in 2014. These EPs were full of beautiful sounding and elegantly arranged songs, accompanied by an incredibly distinct voice. This led to many fans, including myself, desperately anticipating a full-length album. Now, three years after his first EP was released, Sumney has finally prepared a full LP of material titled Aromanticism. Some notable artists Sumney has worked with in the past include Solange, Chance the Rapper, Skrillex, and Flume.
A choir of many Moses Sumenys singing a reprise of one of the first songs Sumney ever released entitled “Man on the Moon” welcomes us to this little album called Aromanticism. It’s a nice and fitting way to introduce how the next 33 minutes will be experienced for us listeners. And what’s in store for listeners for those 33 minutes? Well, future listeners should expect some great songwriting that is guided through the ears with superb production and arrangements, interesting lyrics, and one fantastic voice. One thing that is easy to take away from this album is Moses Sumney is the real deal. However, the brevity of this album may leave some listeners, including myself, with something to be desired.
While Sumney’s songwriting skills and musical visions are absolutely praiseworthy, it is really his voice that will be the first thing to stick out to people. The majority of Moses’s singing is done so in a distinct, yet ever-so-soulful falsetto. Sumney’s falsetto, unlike most singers, is so fully textured and has an unusually large amount of character to it. Songs like “Plastic,” “Lonely World,” and “Quarrel” display Sumney’s range and ability to effortlessly soar into stratospheric high notes. However, don’t let Moses’s tendency to reside in a falsetto vocal range lead you to think that his range is limited to that for even a second. That low note Sumney hits on the line “Swell and swollen” during the song “Plastic,” that’s a low note, man. On the soul-crushingly, beautiful-yet-somber song “Doomed,” Moses pours every single ounce of his heart out on the table for the listener to behold, and effortlessly glides though vocal runs like they’re nothing. The dozy, trippy “Indulge Me” shows how absolutely no soul or character is lost in the transition from falsetto range to non-falsetto range. This man’s voice is something truly special.
Aromanticism also shows how remarkable Moses Sumney’s songwriting is. Even at a fairly early stage of his career, Sumney is able to show a level of maturity and detail in his craft that very few artists are able to display. The structure of the songs on this project could be rather simple like on “Plastic,” or it could be progressive and epic like on “Quarrel” or “Lonely World,” but never are these songs predictable or cliché. Sumney’s ability to make the more minimalistic songs just as captivating as his more epically produced songs is something to note also. “Doomed” is absolutely breathtaking, powerful, heart-breaking, gorgeous, etc. Basically, it’s one of the most captivating songs of the year, and it has so few elements within it. With very minimal ambient instrumentation in the background, this song pretty much relies solely on Sumney’s vocal performance to express and push forward the power and emotion of this song. Luckily for Sumney, “Doomed” has one of the most moving and powerful vocal performances of the year. “Plastic” is another gorgeous piece with Moses’s voice and guitar carrying the song as it plays out like an Amy Winehouse demo on steroids. “Quarrel” and “Lonely World” are different monsters, however. “Lonely World” starts with some spooky tremolo guitar picking, as multiple guitars stack on top of each other for brief moment before Sumney fades in with a lone acoustic guitar. As the song carries forward, more and more musical layers are added, until the song goes from just Moses and his guitar, to a staggering wall of sound comprised of frantic drumming, a thundering and rolling bassline, and an army of Moses Sumneys chanting and bellowing. The climax on this song is euphoric, to say the least. I will say, however, not every single song is a home run. “Make Out in My Car” does seem underdeveloped from a songwriting standpoint. Maybe the purpose of this song is to act as somewhat of an interlude, but the end result feels more like a filler track than that.
As floored as I am with the majority of the songs on this album, there is still a bone or two to pick with it, unfortunately. The biggest offense this album commits is that it is far too short. This project contains 11 tracks and runs about 35 minutes in length. That’s not bad on its own. However, the first track plays as a 30 second intro to the album, and there are two interlude-ish tracks that are just a little over a minute each (“Stoicism” and “The Cocoon-Eyed Baby”). On top of those tracks, the last song plays more like an outro instrumental for the album. That leaves us with only 7 full songs to enjoy. On top of all of this, one of these songs, “Make Out in My Car,” is a little underdeveloped and lackluster. That now leaves us with 6 out of 11 songs that are quality. So while the majority of the actual songs are amazing, this album almost ridden with filler tracks, which is a shame.
My overall impression of Aromanticism is a bit perplexing. I was amazed by a good amount of these songs, but I was also left with a lot to be desired. Nonetheless, this album ultimately gifts the world with some incredible songs. I hope that Sumney’s further projects will be fuller and more replete with actual songs rather than interludes. Because if he can provide an album that fully consists only of songs that mirror the quality of the songs on Aromanticism, then that will be an album for the ages. To my millions of avid readers reading this, listen to the album.
Favorite songs: “Doomed,” “Quarrel,” “Lonely World,” “Plastic”
8.0/10
