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 + Year-end list accolades for Græ Publication List Rank The A.V. Club The 20 best albums of 2020 Clash Albums of the Year 2020 Double J The 50 best albums of 2020 Esquire (UK) The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Exclaim! 50 Best Albums of 2020 The Fader The 50 best albums of 2020 Gigwise 51 Best Albums of 2020 The Guardian The 50 best albums of 2020 The Independent The 40 best albums of 2020 The Line of Best Fit The Best Albums of 2020 Los Angeles Times The 10 best albums of 2020 Mojo The 75 Best Albums of 2020 The New York Times Jon Pareles' Best Albums of 2020 Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Slant Magazine The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Uncut The Top 75 Albums of the Year Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2020
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 +Chart performance for Græ Chart (2020) Peakposition
References
External links Græ Lyric Booklet at Sumney's website.