On Kevin Morby’s most recent, and by far his most ambitious release, he deals with religion (all be it a very limited Protestant Christianity view) in his own self-described ‘not religious in the slightest’ way. Oh My God is a double album which examines that phrase multiple times in multiple fashions, over and over again. From the purely praying variations of the expression, such as on a plane descending on fire, to the OMG! abbreviations and flippant nature in which God is invoked millions of times a day on social media.
Musically Morby again worked with Sam Cohen to craft a stark soundscape, complete with vibrant pianos and lightly colored jazzy flights. The excellent minimalist production puts Morby’s voice as the focal point and his religious imagery/thoughts front and center.
Beginning with the gospel piano ballad, his title track sets the scene of the upcoming meditation. “No Halo” is an early bright spot as hand claps and echoed singing begin things but the full-on instrumentation half way through alters the track in a positive way as flutes, bass lines and big drums lift the song from nice novelty to complete work.
This half and half style is less successful on “OMG Rock and Roll” which opens as a lo-fi ramble filled with distortion, moving upbeat until it unexpectedly slams into a full choir mid-tune and stops moving. This juxtaposition is at the heart of Oh My God and while this tunes execution stumbles there are brighter points.
“Congratulations” begins with females of all ages asking God for forgiveness before Morby sings in almost Jim James fashion to his “beautiful baby girl” during the 50’s styled rocker. “Sing A Glad Song” sits in a church evoking Bob Dylan qualities from Morby over twinkling triangles and a great bass line while “O Behold” ends the album ascending to heaven moment.
The more secular-leaning tracks each have devils and funerals, steeples and peoples, lords and locusts as he plays with Christian imagery and framing devices. “Hail Mary” deals with death in folk-rock fashion, “Piss River” also has a Dylan like feel as it hits its rolling notes while “Seven Devils” uses a fuzzy guitar to winning success, but ends just when things are really starting to take off.
The scaled-back sparseness of “Savannah” is interesting with choral vocals blaring in at odd times over a buzzing hum with a saxophone supporting Morby’s spoken word lyrics. That saxophone from Cochemea Gastelum is a constant plus when it shows up like on “Nothing Sacred/All Things Wild” which also deploys congas to great affect allowing Morby to command the tune while gorgeous supporting vocals swirl.
Overall Oh My God is more enamored with digging into the title phrase and religious trappings than with any spirituality found underneath it all. Morby is an outsider to the religion he is singing about and that sense of observation can either lift up or weigh down a track, but the complete work of art examining an increasingly common phrase has engaging moments, gorgeous production and sense of artistic striving flowing through it.
Photo by Marc Lacatell
