Much has happened since Irish singer/songwriter James Vincent McMorrow last toured Australia in late 2017.
He signed to, then left, a major label, became a father and re-emerged from the “void of the pandemic.”
Now James is finally returning to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his cherished indie-folk debut, Early In The Morning (EITM), performing the entire album solo on guitar in intimate venues in addition to new songs and other favourites from an impressive discography – all with some twists.
Zooming at “half nine,” the normally private Dubliner is the picture of domestic cosiness, tea mug in hand. “My little two-year-old son just ran past,” he laughs. “Very likely he’s about to enter the mix.”
James Vincent McMorrow
- When: 5 June
- Where: Northcote Theatre
- Get tickets here
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After the break-out EITM, James recast himself as a sonic adventurer with 2014’s Post Tropical – melding folk, soul and ambitronica, Bon Iver-style. He enjoyed crossover success in Australia when triple j picked up the “weird” single Cavalier (remixed by The 1975!). James played two “magical” nights at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid. Constantly evolving and expanding his reach, he keeps advancing.
As such, announcing a retrospective tour came as a surprise. In fact, the sage James initially dismissed the proposal. But, revisiting EITM for the first time in 12 years, he had a fresh perspective, recognising the guilelessness of its songcraft. James was especially proud that “there’s no skips.”
“What was interesting was I think I undervalued how good it was – and I know that would read kind of funny. But the reason I’ve always been very forward-focused is because I feel like there’s an obligation on musicians to push forward.
“I’ve always excluded my first album from that conversation. I made my first record and then I was like, ‘Okay, now let’s go!’ But, when I listened to it, I was like, ‘Oh, actually, based on the skillset I had at the time as a producer and as a writer, I was really putting my best foot forward in a way that I maybe undervalued.'”
James joined Columbia Records ahead of his fifth album, 2021’s Grapefruit Season – again unexpected for the longtime independent artist. “I think I would have gotten to the end of my career, whenever that is, and I would have looked back and a little part of me would have wanted to know what it felt like to be on a major label.”
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The cult star wondered, too, what he might create with a budget, having curtailed his ambition in fulfilling 2016’s RnB-infused We Move – for which he’d teamed with outside producers, among them Drake’s associate Nineteen85. “I was like, ‘What happens if I go on a major label and they basically just open up the chequebook and go, ‘Do whatever you want?’ And they did!”
But, though he befriended the Grammy-winning Paul Epworth while recording Grapefruit Season, James found himself at odds with executives approaching artistry as “commerce” and unending deliberations – recalling that it “didn’t click.”
“I just didn’t have a lot of fun making that record in a way that I thought I would, because, actually, as it turned out, flying by the seat of my pants is kind of 50 per cent of what I love about making music.
“I felt like it was a weird time in music. [The label] was just obsessed with TikTok and very little else – and nothing about my career has ever been social media-driven.”
Still, James stresses, he has no regrets, his motto “everything for a reason.”
Meanwhile James has embraced the collab – even working with DJs like The Blessed Madonna. “There’s something beautiful about those collaborations because they’re so freewheeling,” he says.
And James is “slowly rebuilding.” In 2022 he issued the lowkey The Less I Knew, following with last year’s exploratory Wide open, horses – “a bit more of an event,” he says (and featuring his young daughter). Recently, James has circulated standalone singles, like the acoustic Cowboys Of Los. “I love making music very fast and releasing it very fast when the ink is still kind of wet on it.”
Yet the prolific musician has no immediate plans for album eight. “I think I’m gonna take a little pause.” James admits that there’s always professional “insecurity,” but he needs to rejuvenate. “I can see myself just taking a little break and trusting that the work I’ve done in the last few years will see me through until I release more music, maybe early next year. Maybe it’ll all change. Who knows? But I just don’t wanna define it. I wanna just allow it to be for a minute.”
James Vincent McMorrow is playing Northcote Theatre on 5 June, get tickets here.
