It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After previewing new tunes during a solo tour over the summer and booking a gig at Town Hall in May, we figured it was only a matter of time until Kevin Morby released details about his next album. A double LP, Oh My God is set to drop April 26 via Dead Oceans. Accompanying the news, Kevin shared more tour dates, released a teaser video and unveiled a video for the album’s first single, “No Halo”, which you can watch below.

In the release announcing the new record, which is his fifth studio album, Oh My God is described as his first true concept-album, and it finds the musician confronting spirituality and religion head-on. Kevin explains:

“Religion is around all of us. It’s a universal language and there is profound beauty in it. I’ve found it a useful tool within songwriting, as it’s something everyone can relate to on some level. There are religious themes or imagery in a lot of what I’ve done, so I wanted to get all of that out and speak only that language for a whole record. It’s not a born-again thing; it’s more that ‘oh my god’ is such a profound statement we all use multiple times a day and means so many different things. It’s not about an actual god but a perceived one, and it’s an outsider’s view of the human experience in terms of religion.”

Kevin enlisted the help of Sam Cohen for the new record. Sam produced Kevin’s third album, the critically acclaimed Singing Saw (2016). Rather than make a sequel, Sam decided to take things in a different direction for OMG. During a recording session in January 2017, Sam suggested the songs be less colorful and more stripped down, with only a few flourishes. This set the tone for the new record.

Filmmaker Chris Good was brought on to shoot the music videos for the LP. So far, Kevin has shared an album teaser that features track “Congratulations”, as well as the music video for “No Halo.” Both videos have a dream-like quality, which is similar to the video Chris directed for “City Music”, the title track off Kevin’s last album. Check out the new videos below.

As far as touring, Kevin hits the road in earnest in May, with dates in North America followed by European trek. His touring band will feature Nick Kinsey on drums, Cyrus Gengras on bass, Sam Cohen on guitar, Alecia Chakour and Lauren Balthrop on vocals, Jared Samuel on keys, and Cochemea Gastelum on saxophone. Cochemea joined Kevin when he played at Industry City in Brooklyn back in June. See all of Kevin’s announced tour dates below.

Sam Cohen will also be opening a number of Kevin’s dates. Sam has a new record of his own coming out May 17, The Future’s Still Ringing In My Ears. The LP is co-produced by Sam and Danger Mouse. You can listen to album track “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” over here.

Oh My God is available for pre-order now on LP, CD, cassette, and digital. A limited sky blue opaque vinyl is available via the Dead Oceans store. A limited pre-order bundle is also available and includes a limited edition 24-page Oh My God hymnal and bonus 7” with two unreleased songs, “Gift Horses” and “I Was on Time.”

You can also check out Kevin performing acoustic versions of “No Halo” and “Oh My God” over here.

Oh My God Tracklist
1. Oh My God
2. No Halo
3. Nothing Sacred/All Things Wild
4. OMG Rock n Roll
5. Seven Devils
6. Hail Mary
7. Piss River
8. Savannah
9. Storm (Beneath The Weather)
10. Congratulations
11. I Want To Be Clean
12. Sing A Glad Song
13. Ballad Of Faye
14. O Behold

KEVIN MORBY TOUR DATES
Sat. Mar. 2, 2019 – Phoenix, AZ @ M3F Fest
Wed. May 8, 2019 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel *
Fri. May 10, 2019 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst (Live in the Atrium) *
Sat. May 11, 2019 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
Mon. May 13, 2019 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
Tue. May 14, 2019 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
Wed. May 15, 2019 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Vancouver *
Fri. May 17, 2019 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
Sat. May 18, 2019 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
Fri. May 31, 2019 – New York, NY @ Town Hall *
Sat. June 1, 2019 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
Sun. June 2, 2019 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Mon. June 3, 2019 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
Wed. June 5, 2019 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House *
Thu. June 6, 2019 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark *
Fri. June 7, 2019 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Sat. June 8, 2019 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Fri. June 14 – Brussels, BE @ AB *
Sat. June 15 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg *
Sun. June 16 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifield Derby *
Mon. June 17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso *
Wed. June 19 – London, UK @ O2 Sheperds Bush Empire *
Thu. June 20 – Paris, FR @ Le Cabaret Sauvage *
Sat. June 22 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust *
Sun. June 23 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega *
Mon. June 24 – Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall *
Wed. June 26 – Helsinki, FI @ Tavastia *
Fri. Jun 28, 2019 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser/Bar Brooklyn (solo)
Sat. Jun 29, 2019 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik (solo)
Sun. Jun 30, 2019 – Oslo, Norway @ John Dee (solo)
Mon. Jul 1, 2019 – Tromsø, Norway @ Blårock Café (solo)
Tue. Jul 2, 2019 – Bergen, Norway @ Landmark (solo)
Wed Jul 3, 2019 – Malmö, Sweden @ Babel (solo)
Fri. Jul 5, 2019 – Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain @ Vida Festival (solo)
Sat. Jul 6, 2019 – Madrid, Spain @ Copérnico (solo)
Sun. Jul 7, 2019 – Lisbon, Portugal @ São Luiz Teatro Municipal (solo)
Mon. Jul 8, 2019 – Braga, Portugal @ Gnration (solo)
Wed. Jul 10, 2019 – Biarritz, France @ La Côte des Basques (solo)
Thu. Jul 11, 2019 – Bordeaux, France @ Rock School Barbey (solo)
Fri. Jul 12, 2019 – Toulouse, France @ Le Théatre de Garonne (solo)
Sun. Jul 14, 2019 – Roubaix, France @ La Cave aux Poetes (solo)
Wed. Jul 17, 2019 – Istanbul, Turkey @ IKSV (solo)
Fri. Jul 19, 2019 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Grand Social (solo)

* w/ Sam Cohen

Photo credit: Image above by Barrett Emke