Come December 8th, Moses Sumney will be out with a new concert film entitled Blackalachia. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, it was filmed in the fall of 2020, when playing in front of live crowds was something we all weren’t sure of when would happen again. Part of WeTranfer’s Wepresent series, the 67-minute set sees Sumney playing songs off of both Græ and Aromanticism, along with some new material, which is what brings us here today.
On “In Bloom (In The Woods),” Sumney operates with a renewed comfort vocally. Perhaps it’s the bucolic setting, but there’s a distinct peace-of-mind in his delivery as he sings over gorgeous strings and a modest beat. You can almost hear the insects chirping in the background of the audience-less recording. The film itself obviously stars Sumney, but it was also directed by him. “Over the course of two days, we filmed 14 songs, totally live, the trees as our audience, the grasshoppers our background singers,” Sumney said in a statement. “The film is a wild imagining of what can happen when we seek not just to reclaim nature, but to reintegrate with it.”
Listen to “In Bloom (In The Woods)” above and watch a whip-fast drone-filmed trailer for Blackalachia below.