MOSES SUMNEY - ME IN 20 YEARS

Moses Sumney continues to amp up the expectation for his new album, Grae, with "Me In 20 Years."

Moses Sumney certainly knows how to work the album release cycle. He's currently on his third advance single for grae, his new album and first since 2017's critically acclaimed Aromanticism. Expectations were already running high, given Aromanticism's popularity and Sumney's subsequent ascent into public consciousness. At this point, it almost seems like Sumney's teasing us. Not only has the album rollout cycle been particularly elongated, but it's also being split into two halves. The first half will drop in February and the second in April.

Grae is already shaping up to be one of the major cultural moments of 2020. It's going to be heavy, too, it seems. "Me In 20 Years" is a brooding, heartbreaking meditation on loss in the wake of a painful breakup.

MOSES SUMNEY - ME IN 20 YEARS

"Me In 20 Years" is a tender, heartfelt ballad, given a futuristic sheen due to Daniel Lopatin's production. Given Lopatin's, better known as Oneohtrix Point Never's, recent soundtrack work, "Me In 20 Years" is given rather a cinematic, wide-angle presentation.

Daniel Lopatin's production growls like a malevolent beast, bringing to mind the despondent post-dubstep of James Blake. Given how long it's been since Blake's dropped a new LP, we're about due for some more miserablist electronic ballads. "Me In 20 Years" also brings to mind latter-day Frank Ocean, with the shivering, delicate, heartfelt falsetto vocals and existential lyrics. For those who particularly dug Blonde or Endless, "Me In 20 Years" will hit a similar sweet spot. 

It's still as stripped down as any breakup ballad you could ever hope for. It's both full and empty, delicate and vulnerable while still being slightly guarded, shrouded in Lopatin's digital drop shadow.

We Are: The Guard didn't know it was possible to be more excited about Moses Sumney's new album. We're practically frantic, at this point. February can't get here fast enough!

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.