Oh My God

Released

The title of Kevin Morby’s fifth album was less an exclamation, more of an address. Following from 2016’s roots-deep Singing Saw and the urban rattle of City Music in 2017, Oh My God was a fourteen song concept LP about faith, religion and spirituality. It’s a theme that’s been present in pretty much all of Morby’s music, but the prism here magnified that searching, yearning spirit. Churchy organs and gospel vocals abound, while stacked-vocal choirs frequently burst in, followed by flutters of celestial-bound saxophones. The songs move from the grandiose (“No Halo”’s epic wall of sound) to hushed confessionals (the Lou Reed style beat poetry of “Savannah”) and by the time it draws to a close with the Dylan-like “O Behold” the entire journey feels like a revelation.

Chris Catchpole

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