We have a new single OUT NOW with the amazing @jamesvmcmorrow

Go listen to ‘Be Somebody': https://t.co/KBYgyA614a pic.twitter.com/Wan8YQOVuM

— Rudimental (@Rudimental) March 8, 2021

Mac spoke to McMorrow and one-quarter of Rudimental, Piers Agget to discuss how the single came about. McMorrow stated that the track began from a song that he had written a few years ago. that he was “having one of those moments” and said, “Let’s make country music!” Later Rudimental heard the demo and was struck by its “relatability” of uncertainty during the early pandemic and decided to give it a dance twist. Mac commented that the song felt right during this time of optimism and hope.

The song begins with McMorrow’s original stripped-down vocals before the familiar Rudimental sound sweeps in, taking the track to the next level with an irresistibly danceable beat. The Irish singer-songwriter gushed about the collaboration on his official website:

“I f***ing love Rudimental, always have, I have this beautiful memory of seeing their show at Coachella in 2014 right after I’d played, and then driving up to San Francisco listening to their album Home the entire way. To me this song sounds and feels like that album, it’s exciting that we got to do this thing together.”

This is Rudimental’s first release this year following their December collaboration Be The One with MORGAN, TIKE, and drill rapper Digga D. McMorrow and Rudimental teased album releases later this year on Radio 1 with Mac. Both artists also expressed their excitement to get back to performing this summer.

Listen to ‘Be Somebody’ and watch the official lyric video.

‘Be Somebody’ is available to stream everywhere now.

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All the way from the legendary Palace Bar in Dublin, Ireland comes this week’s #PlayAtHome performance from James Vincent McMorrow, who gives us a sneak peek at his upcoming album with this performance of “Gone.”

A post shared by A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) on Nov 6, 2020 at 12:01pm PST

Speaking about the performance in an Instagram post, James said; “We set out to create something that felt like more than just a television performance, i wanted people to watch it and feel like they were there in the room with me. It would be really easy right now, with remote shooting, to edit and fix and perfect the thing. By keeping it as a single shot, we were forced to commit, and that brought me deeper into the performance than i would have gotten otherwise.”

James also spoke about performing in The Palace Bar, saying; “We shot in The Palace Bar in Dublin because we wanted to draw light on another part of Irish life that is currently shut down. Getting to speak to the owner about the three generations of his family who’ve run the place, the people who’ve come through over the years, how worried he was for the future of his family and staff… It added another level of weight to what we were doing.”

Gone came out last week and was premiered on BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds With Annie Mac as the Hottest Record in the World. The song explores the idea of the breakdown of relationships, in particular the relationship you have with yourself. James explained how the lyrics of this song shows how he feels about life and all the ups and down such as; “how I hear it, my fear of it, my obsession with it, my belligerent belief that I can control it, my quiet acknowledgment in the middle of the night that i will never control a single thing. And there’s nothing wrong with any of it.”

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‘Gone’ is out now wherever you get your music. It’s a song about disintegration, about belligerence, about refusal to change even when change is the only thing. I wrote it as the start of a conversation with myself, but when you hear it, it’s whatever it means to you. Listen link in bio. Written by me and Moon Willis. Produced by me, Moon Willis and Paul Epworth. Mixed by Manny Marroquin. Mastered by Chris Athens. Artwork by Andrew Archer.

A post shared by James Vincent McMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) on Nov 2, 2020 at 11:01am PST

This is the third song James has released this year and will be the first song from his upcoming album, which will be his first in three years. Last month I Should Go came out and has since been remixed and reimagined as an upbeat club song by Grammy nominated DJ and producer Nic Fanciulli and James also shared a stripped down acoustic version.

Gone is out now on all platforms. You can watch James Vincent McMorrow’s performance on Stephen Colbert below.

With close to 40,000 Instagram followers, the singer explained the meaning behind the song. He described it as “a song about disintegration, about belligerence, about refusal to change even when change is the only thing.” He continued, “I wrote it as the start of a conversation with myself, but when you hear it, it’s whatever it means to you.”

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‘Gone’ is out now wherever you get your music. It’s a song about disintegration, about belligerence, about refusal to change even when change is the only thing. I wrote it as the start of a conversation with myself, but when you hear it, it’s whatever it means to you. Listen link in bio. Written by me and Moon Willis. Produced by me, Moon Willis and Paul Epworth. Mixed by Manny Marroquin. Mastered by Chris Athens. Artwork by Andrew Archer.

A post shared by James Vincent McMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) on Nov 2, 2020 at 11:01am PST

McMorrow regularly moves between genres, making it hard to pin down his sound, but very exciting to listen to it. ‘Gone’ uses incredible beats and percussion sounds which fill out the instrumental almost entirely, while his husky vocals echo over the top, accompanied by some gorgeous harmonies.

Speaking to Mac on the radio show, the Irish singer discussed his sound, saying “I’ve always gone in with an agenda because I get very scared of what people will think of me,” but with his upcoming album “the idea of trying to fit a brief just seemed pretty ridiculous.” He also revealed that ‘Gone’ was the first song written for the new album, which will be his first in three years.

The album, will contain fifteen songs including earlier release ‘I Should Go’, as well as ‘Gone’. According to McMorrow, it was finished at the start of 2020, but he felt that there was more he could with it, and found that he finally had the time to focus entirely on his music during lockdown. ‘I Should Go’ is an incredible collaboration with Kenny Beats which – in McMorrow’s true style – has a powerful funky bass-line, R&B beats, and his classic folk vocals.

James Vincent McMorrow released his debut album ‘Early in the Morning’ in the US and Europe in 2011 after its success in Ireland, which was widely acclaimed. Featuring on Later…with Jools Holland, he then saw his music shown in American TV show Gossip Girl, and released three more albums in just three years: ‘Post Tropical’, ‘We Move’ and ‘True Care’. During this time he also composed a film score for a short film directed by Sam Benenati, created a cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ which was included in Game of Thrones, and collaborated with Kygo on the song ‘I’m In Love’.

Falling somewhere between industrial rock, new wave pop and alternative electronica, it’s a complete mush of genres that has produced one of, if not the, brightest debut from an artist this year. Standing head and shoulders above the mainstream music that poisons the airwaves so commonly, as soon as you hear the first track of No Ceremony you will realise this is the band the music scene has been searching for, a band to make you realise that all hope is not lost within the ever expanding music industry.

No Ceremony /// also have a fair few celebrity fans to call upon for assistance should they be needing it. Joey Santiago, lead guitarist for legendary rockers Pixies, lends a hand on Heartbreaker and Irish folk-singer James Vincent McMorrow adds his swooning voice to AwayFromHere, which has an end result of one of the most beautiful songs you are likely to hear all year. Truth is though, any of the tracks could be your song of the year. Each tune encompasses something different about the threesome and they are all so majestic and soothing that there is no weak point on the record. It is the type of album that you can have on in the background, go on a road trip to, wake up to, fall asleep to; there is no situation in life where this record will not make it better.

Tracklisting for No Ceremony is below.

1. HURTLOVE

2. FEELSOLOW

3. HEARTBREAKER (Featuring Joey Santiago)

4. WARSONGS

5. AWAYFROMHERE (Featuring James Vincent McMorrow)

6. HOLDONME

7. PARTOFME

8. DELIVERUS

9. HEAVYHOUR

No Ceremony/// go on tour this September. If you want to catch them while they’re hot, get a ticket and we’ll see you down the front.

Friday 13th – East Village Arts Club, Liverpool

Saturday 14th – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Sunday 15h – Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

Monday 16th – Mole, Bath

Tuesday 17th – The Hope, Brighton

Wednesday 25th – The Roundhouse, London (iTunes Festival, supporting Pixies)

You can check out their latest video for PartOfMe below.