James Vincent McMorrow shares the music video for Paradise from his upcoming album, Grapefruit Season, to be released on September 17.
“McMorrow has a soul voice to cherish” – Guardian
“The ever-shifting Irish singer-songwriter…it works” – Sunday Times, Hottest Tracks
“A deft collaboration, with James pushing his music onto a different realm, whilst maintaining that recognizable emotional pull” – CLASH
“Lyrically raw and immensely quotable” – The Forty Five
James Vincent McMorrow shares the video for new single Paradise, which is available now via Sony Music UK/RCA Records. Paradise is the latest taste of James’ much-anticipated new album Grapefruit Season – which also features teaser singles Headlights, Gone, and I Should Go (with Kenny Beats) – and is now set for release on September 17.
Produced by James alongside Paul Epworth and Lil Silva, Paradise is about pretending everything is fine when, beneath the surface, it really isn’t. Initially struggling to find its visual concept, the Paradise video started as an off-hand remark (“why don’t I just dig out my rollerblades and film myself learning to skate again in the park behind my house?”) but now feels like the perfect fit to the track’s uplifting, feel-good but melancholic center.
Paradise further previews Grapefruit Season, James Vincent McMorrow’s upcoming, fifth studio album – and one in which the artist, producer, and songwriter pushes himself (and his sound) in all new ways. The record was recorded between London, Los Angeles, and Dublin, largely before the pandemic struck. It embraces the timeless yet timely fact that life is chaos; the idea of growing up, but as Paradise suggests, still 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. Even the title, Grapefruit Season, seems to signpost doing simply what you want, rather than what you are supposed to do – it was inspired by James watching his mum eat grapefruit as a kid, and the idea that what’s good for you may not actually be pleasurable.
Throughout the emotional highs and lows of Grapefruit Season, you are reminded of the risks James Vincent McMorrow has taken since the singer-songwriter roots of debut album Early In The Morning (which turned ten in 2020); but also that those same instincts – to follow inspiration wherever it leads, and to be as brutally honest possible – remain a refreshing constant. Whilst there may always be trouble in Paradise, what’s emerged is James Vincent McMorrow’s most essential album to date.
James also made headlines recently playing the first concert in Ireland with a live audience since the beginning of the pandemic (tickets sold out in just 30 seconds). With festivals including Latitude and Isle of Wight confirmed to follow this summer, McMorrow’s UK and European tour for early 2022 includes a London date at Kentish Town Forum on February 21 and two homecoming shows at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on April 19-20.
February 4 – Leuven @ Het Depot
February 5 – Paris @ Le Trianon
February 6 – Luxembourg @ Den Atelier
February 8 – Frankfurt @ Batschkapp
February 9 – Amsterdam @ Paradiso
February 10 – Hamburg @ Grunspan
February 12 – Stockholm @ Nalen
February 13 – Copenhagen @ Vega
February 15 – Berlin @ Metropol
February 16 – Cologne @ Gloria Theatre
February 18 – Manchester @ O2 Ritz
February 20 – Birmingham @ O2 Institute
February 21 – London @ O2 Kentish Town Forum
February 22 – Bristol @ O2 Academy
February 23 – Glasgow @ Barrowland Ballroom
April 19 – Dublin @ Olympia Theatre
April 20 – Dublin @ Olympia Theatre
April 21 – Belfast @ Limelight
April 22 – Limerick @ Milk Market
