Moses Sumney has released a new version of his song “In Bloom.” The delicate, stripped-down track, titled “In Bloom (In the Woods),” is from the musician’s upcoming album and film Live From Blacklachia.
The film, due out Dec. 10, captures a one-take performance Sumney did in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Sumney directed the film, which features performances of 14 songs, himself.
The original version of “In Bloom” comes off Sumney’s 2020 album Græ. Græ marked Sumney’s second studio album and was released in two parts last year, the first in February and the second in May. It followed his debut LP Aromanticism and the subsequent EP Black in Deep Red, 2014.
Sumney told Rolling Stone he always seeks to create music outside genre limitation. “To some people, I will always be an R&B artist, and that is the nature of my work,” he said. “It is the nature of me being a black singer who sings the way I do, regardless of what I dress it up in.”
“I love to laugh, and I’m always laughing,” he said of the album’s sometimes humorous tone. “I view sadness and joy as intrinsically linked. Melancholy is such a bittersweet emotion, but the sweetness is there. I wanted to make that clearer. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not dark and brooding all the time.”
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
