Græ

''Græ'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Moses Sumney. The double album was released in two parts by Jagjaguwar. The first part was released digitally on February 21, 2020, followed by the full album, including its second part, on May 15, 2020.

''Græ'' features contributions from a wide range of musicians, writers and producers, including Daniel Lopatin, Thundercat, Jill Scott, James Blake, Taiye Selasi, John Congleton, Rob Moose, Ezra Miller, Michael Chabon, Matthew Otto, Ian Chang, and FKJ.

The album was preceded by five singles: "Virile", "Polly", "Me in 20 Years", "Cut Me", and "Bless Me".

Background and recording

Some of the songs on ''Græ'', including "Virile", were recorded by Sumney with drummer Ian Chang of Son Lux and producer/engineer Ben Baptie at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, North Carolina. Sumney first lived in Asheville before and during the making of ''Aromanticism'', and ''Græ'' is Sumney's first album since officially relocating to Asheville from Los Angeles. The album was mixed by Ben Baptie at Strongroom and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound.

Release

"Virile" was released as the album's first single on November 14, 2019. The album was announced the same day.

"Polly" was released as the second single on December 13, 2019, followed by "Me in 20 Years" on January 6, 2020, and "Cut Me" on February 7. Sumney made his US television debut with a performance of the latter track on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' on February 11. The album's first part was released digitally on February 21.

"Bless Me" was released as the album's fifth and final single on May 11, 2020, with the full album released four days later.

Critical reception

''Græ'' received rave reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 from reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 90, based on 17 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". According to Metacritic, it was the 5th best-reviewed album of 2020. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

A. D. Amorosi of ''Variety'' praised the album, calling it a "magnificent, multi-genre mess in a dress of many colors" and "one of the year's boldest and best". Jenessa Williams of '' DIY'' gave the album a perfect score, calling it "complex, unconventional and ultimately, essential". Marcus J. Moore of ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the album an A, writing, "''græ'' finds him trying to be, well, everything, and through a convergence of folk, jazz, classical, and art-rock, along with his probing lyricism, Sumney has managed to produce a sonic marvel".

Max Freedman of ''The A.V. Club'' praised ''Part 1'' for showcasing Sumney "step outside previous comfort zones" with "Conveyor", "Neither/Nor", and "Virile". However, Freedman criticized ''Part 2'' as lacking the stylistic and thematic variety of ''Part 1'' and for occupying "shockingly familiar musical territory" to that of the songs on ''Aromanticism''.

Year-end lists

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Græ''.

Notes
* signifies an additional producer.
* "Insula", "Boxes", "Jill/Jack", "Also Also Also And And And", "And So I Come to Isolation" and "Before You Go" are stylized in all lowercase.
* "Gagarin" contains elements from "Gagarin's Point Of View", written by Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström.
* "Jill/Jack" contains interpolations from "Cross My Mind", written by Jill Scott.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Græ''.

Musicians
* Moses Sumney – vocals , piano , guitar , keyboards , bass , percussion , synthesizers , saxophone and flute arrangements , additional percussion , piano FX
* Thundercat – bass
* Daniel Lopatin – synthesizers , bass , drum programming , keyboards
* Rob Moose – strings , string arrangement
* Keith Tutt II – strings , cello
* Adult Jazz – bass , synthesizers , horns , piano
* Brandon Coleman – bass , synthesizers , piano , additional synthesizers
* Ian Chang – drums , drum programming , percussion
* Jonathan Slater – horns
* Jamire Williams – drums
* Matthew Otto – synthesizers
* Noah Kardos-Fein – guitar
* Ben Baptie – drum programming , additional synthesizers , piano FX
* Brandee Younger – harp
* Nubya Garcia – flute
* Mike Haldeman – guitar , guitar FX
* John Keek – saxophone
* Shahzad Ismaily – bass synthesizer , additional synthesizers , bass
* FKJ – saxophone , keyboards , synthesizers , all instrumentation
* Shabaka Hutchings – saxophone
* Tunde Jegede – kora
* Tom Gallo – guitar
* James Blake – drum programming , keyboards
* John Congleton – guitar , additional percussion
* Jamie Stewart – organ , drum programming

Engineers
* Moses Sumney – engineering
* Daniel Lopatin – engineering
* Steph Marziano – engineering
* Jake Viator – engineering
* Ricardo Wheelock – engineering
* Matthew Otto – engineering
* Mac DeMarco – engineering
* Andrew Chugg – engineering
* Alexis Berthelot – engineering
* Ben Baptie – engineering , mixing
* Rashaan Carter – engineering
* Simon Ribchester – engineering
* FKJ – engineering
* Matt Cohn – engineering
* Sean Cook – engineering
* Tom Gallo – engineering
* James Blake – engineering
* Tom Archer – mix assistance
* Joe LaPorta – mastering

Artwork
* Moses Sumney – art direction
* Julian Gross – art direction, design
* Eric Gyamfi – photography

Charts

References

External links

Græ Lyric Booklet
at Sumney's website.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Græ
2020 albums
Moses Sumney albums
Jagjaguwar albums
Albums produced by John Congleton