Moses Sumney

Emerging from Los Angeles, singer-songwriter Moses Sumney weaves rich soul ballad traditions together with art pop, indie rock, folk, and ambient R&B. He first surfaced in 2014, when his intricate stylistic blend and magnetic stage presence drew early supporters including Sufjan Stevens and David Byrne, well before the release of his wide-ranging 2017 debut Aromanticism. Two subsequent releases—an expansive 2020 double album titled Græ and the 2021 concert album film Live from Blackalachia—pushed his artistic reach even further. Following a contribution to the HBO series The Idol, he resurfaced in 2024 with the reflective, understated R&B single “Vintage.”

A native of San Bernardino, Sumney started performing in his early twenties and soon developed a singular approach that he enriched in the studio through dense, multi-layered vocal arrangements. His introductory EP, 2014’s Mid-City Island, included the ethereal single “Man on the Moon” and paved the way for the more stripped-back 2016 releases “Seeds” and “Please.” Growing recognition brought high-profile support slots alongside Solange, James Blake, and David Byrne. In September 2017 he issued his first full-length, Aromanticism, a meticulously shaped exploration of emotional detachment and isolation. The next year saw an EP of alternate takes on the Aromanticism song “Make Out in My Car,” featuring remixes from Sufjan Stevens and James Blake plus a cover by Alex Isley. Another 2018 project, the EP Black in Deep Red 2014, also appeared. May 2020 brought his second album, Græ, an adventurous, wide-ranging double set that examined his layered identity and intricate self-perception. Its ambitious successor, 2021’s Live from Blackalachia, captured a live performance with no audience on a stage built in the Blue Ridge Mountains; the resulting concert album and film drew from material across his prior two records. The 2023 single “Get it B4” ended a three-year gap between studio releases and appeared on the first season of The Idol, in which Sumney also took an acting role. One year later his direction shifted once more with “Vintage,” a hazy, atmospheric piece steeped in wistful yearning and carrying a ’90s R&B atmosphere.