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Kevin Morby stays busy.
ButThis Is a Photographis also a shift for Morby.
Unlike New York, L.A., or Kansas City, hes never actually lived in Memphis.
The pandemic gave him the time and space to do that.
Theres a bravery there that I was really feeling.
It was obviously a scary night, but he was okay in the end.
They lived there for a very short period, and I was born there.
It felt like this very cinematic, sort of serendipitous moment.
Its almost like this passing the torch: Okay, you’re free to help me out now.
This is what Ill miss about being alive.
And itll be true in the moment.
It is coming after I literally wrote a whole album about the sun setting and about twilight.
And its speaking to that as well.
Then, in the 11th hour, we changed the tempo and started to build up this crazy … And Sam was like, I feel that.
We just kept doing it.
It might destroy my voice, but itll be fun for a while.
Then I read through the lyrics, and I saw that it wasjustinstead.
To be honest with you, the song is about no one in particular.
And Im so happy with how it ended up turning out.
In 2019, I didan interview with Vice.
And I picked Jeff BuckleysGrace.
Hes someone Id always been interested in.
I knew he had this eerie death.
I thought it was suicide.
I thought he was from the South.
So it was another arrow pointing toward Memphis.
I just felt, from what Im gathering, that he was here for a very similar reason.
And it was in my 30s that I moved back to Kansas and started to settle down.
When I found his house, I was perplexed.
And I was really getting into his music.
I dont want to get so close to the source that it kills me.
But the other day, I went for a jog.
The point where he entered the river became this place that I would go to frequently in Memphis.
Its this beautiful spot in the river; I totally understand why hed want to take a swim there.
I went down there the other day, and there were two butterflies right at the entry.
I just have to believe that thats Jeff Buckleys way.
I felt proud of the song, and perhaps he was giving me his blessing.
Im glad that I saw the song through.
Its probably the song thats most out of theme with the rest of the album.
Its justa movieI watched one day, it was raining outside and I threw on a movie.
Id seen it before, but not in like a decade.
And I started writing this song.
The dynamic between the two characters is hes so awful to her.
Karen Black just thinks the world of him and is always trying to impress him.
Shes trying to sing him songs, and he tells her she has a bad voice.
Its so brutal to watch, but its still a beautiful movie.
It just paints a vivid picture of a tumultuous relationship.
They were coming in, and I was like, We have to mute the vocals for this.
I cant have them listening to this verse over and over.
I cant subject them to that.
Then Olivers mom was like, I can handle it, dont worry about it.
So I thought that was a good sign.
I know youve written songs from a female perspective before, too.
What is that like for you?The bulk ofCity Musicwas from this sort of make-believe female character.
As a songwriter, I like to reverse perspectives.
And Karen Black, Im such a fan of hers.
I think the way she portrays that character is so powerful.
Its just in the liner notes.
Im going to call it for what it is.And it came out naturally in the studio.
Listening back to it now, it makes me think about other songs that have peoples names in them.
But I like it.
Its a song for Katie.
I felt vulnerable showing it to her, and I wanted to get her blessing to do it.
And she was like, Well, I cried.
You didnt stop before I cried.
But I wanted to broaden this a bit.
I love that line as well.
The original lyric was With theMshaped like the moon, it made me contemplate the moon.
He was like, You should change it to stars.
Youre singing about stars.
ThenDiane Lane, shes the most random one.
I hadnt watched it in years, and shes such an iconic figure in this movie.
Shes also inRumble Fish, and shes in black-and-white.
But I think its important also to tell those stories of, sometimes the good survive.
Sometimes these people who are such icons, theyre still out there, and thats a beautiful thing.
That song made me think about the influence of Anthony Bourdain onSundowner.
Weve been talking about Jeff Buckley and Karen Black and all these celebrities.
Its something that everyone does, but there arent songs about it.It is vulnerable.
I think its a good word.
And its a cool thing to honor the past in that way, to move certain stories forward.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
