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James Vincent McMorrow is a platinum-selling artist who has independently clocked up over 1 billion streams and reached #1 in his home of Ireland amongst other achievements.
Over the last decade, Dublin-born McMorrow has established himself as a multi-faceted songwriter with a vast spectrum of styles. He sings, produces, plays everything, and has a network of collaborators that stretches around the world. He’s crafted a home for himself in the worlds of hip-hop and textured R&B, and even worked on Drake’s 2016 album, Views. It’s fair to say his early days of being pigeon-holed as an ‘indie folk singer-songwriter’ are long dead.
He has toured the world extensively including sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House, London Barbican and the Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre. His first six albums , Early in the Morning, Post Tropical, We Move, True Care, Grapefruit Season (Columbia/RCA) have accumulated well in excess of 1 billion streams.
McMorrow’s organic, word-of-mouth rise to international acclaim, beginning with his platinum-selling 2010 debut, Early in the Morning, which reached #1 in his home country of Ireland, silver status in the UK, Gold status in Australia , and earned numerous award nods in the process.
The follow up, 2014’s Post Tropical, secured McMorrow’s place as a globally recognized musician, and led to sold out tours across the world, including multiple nights at The Sydney Opera House, London’s Barbican, The Roundhouse, Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre and a residency at Dublin's National Concert Hall aswell as a host of high profile international festival slots at Coachella, Glastonbury, Roots Picnic and Electric Picnic.
We Move, released in September 2016, earned raves from Pitchfork, Pigeons & Planes, NPR Music and landed top spot in Ireland. The album found him working with some of today’s biggest producers, including Nineteen85 (Drake, dvsn), Two Inch Punch (Sam Smith, Years & Years) and Frank Dukes (Kanye West, Rihanna), as well as the legendary Jimmy Douglass (Donny Hathaway, Timbaland) and John O’Mahony (Metric, Coldplay).
Breaking the conventional cycle of releasing an album, waiting 2 years and repeating the process, James’ 2017 album True Care was released 9 months on from his last. On the thought behind it, James had this to say; “Life is long. But then, it isn’t really,” he says. “Since I’ve been making records it’s been about following a cycle. Make a record. Wait. Release a record. Play for 18 months. Take a break. I don’t really understand that cycle any more. I want to make records when I’m compelled to, and I want to release them when they’re still as fresh to me as they are to whomever is hearing them for the first time. The idea of sitting around waiting doesn’t make sense to me.” With True Care, McMorrow doubles down on the glitchy otherworldliness, his cautious falsetto shrouded in quicksilver beats and spooky tempo shifts.
In an already-unpredictable career, 2021’s album titled Grapefruit Season (Columbia (UK) / RCA (US)) saw James Vincent McMorrow push himself (and his sound) in all new ways. Produced by James alongside fellow genre-disruptors, Paul Epworth, Kenny Beats, Lil Silva and Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift), McMorrow’s fifth album was recorded between London, Los Angeles and Dublin largely before the pandemic struck. It embraces the fact that life is chaos, and the idea of growing up but feeling none the wiser. Each song is held together by McMorrow’s instantly-identifiable voice, an untethered musical imagination, and (from dancehall to soul, country to R&B) purposefully little else in its pursuit of fear-free pop music. The album featured hits such as acclaimed single, Gone (which was B-Listed at Radio 1) and standalone collaboration, Be Somebody with dance trailblazers, Rudimental as well as I Should Go with legendary L.A based producer Kenny Beats.
The Less I Knew, released in June 2022, was James’ most pivotal move back to his roots. Dealing with the effect of living up to people’s expectations and trying to maintain the status he had achieved, he realised it compromised the music that he made. He had always tried to live up to the ideal of the careerist musician to complement the immense drive he has as a writer and performer. Featuring the ever growing single “Hurricane” (RTE B-List, Radio Eins A-List) and the lead single “The Less I Knew”, McMorrow acknowledges the fact he is ok with the artist he is and that’s the central motif of ‘The Less I Knew’. You may have got things wrong. You may not have achieved all that you want from life. You might not even really learn from your mistakes. But that’s ok.
With a 7th album already in the works for 2023, McMorrow looks to deliver his finest album to date showcasing the artist's true nature and musical taste.
His own albums are just one way fans have come to McMorrow’s music. He is also a sought-after collaborator and writer who has contributed to albums by a range of celebrated artists. He has written multiple songs off the upcoming Louis Tomlinson album, “Faith In The Future. His voice can be heard on the new San Holo track “The Future”; he wrote and featured on “I’m In Love,” on Kygo’s debut LP Cloud Nine; co-wrote “Angela,” from the debut album by dvsn; and had his vocals featured on Drake’s “Hype,” from his Billboard-topping album Views. He also has moved into the world of Electronic music writing and featuring on the Platinum selling UK artist Rudimental’s 2021 hit titled Be Somebody. He has also many appearances of his music in films and TV shows with his the most recent live cover of “Wicked Games,” used in the season 6 trailer for HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
He recently renewed a long term worldwide publishing deal in 2022 with major music publisher Sony ATV (UK) / Sony Music Publishing (US) further cementing his status as a writer and hit maker.
McMorrow has made television appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “CBS This Morning,” and “Later… With Jools Holland”; and has been featured on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” WXPN’s “World Café,” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts