Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
Critic Score
Based on 26 reviews
2016 Ratings: #42 / 1004
User Score
Based on 299 ratings
2016 Rank: #199
Liked by 8 people
April 15, 2016 / Release Date
LP / Format
Dead Oceans / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

94
Sputnikmusic

Singing Saw is one of those albums that immediately captures your interest, but offers enough depth and hidden intricacies to make every subsequent listen just as rewarding.

90
Uncut

Superb third album ... The album is beautifully structured like this, with narrative threads and recurring thoughts picked up and passed from song to song. It's also self-referential but, crucially, never arch.

85
Under the Radar
There's a strong sense of ambition on these recordings, a strong sense of purpose.
85
The Line of Best Fit

For all the tragedy that’s to be found within Singing Saw, it is a warm, welcoming album, every second of it informed by a knowledge of the transience of all things.

83
Pitchfork

Singing Saw is his strongest album because it shows a process of refinement, and because Morby’s songwriting has become less referential and more grounded. The basic ingredients haven’t changed, but Morby is figuring out how to retain and amplify his strongest points—his weary and wise voice, his understanding of how the musical pieces fit together—and leave everything else behind.

83
Entertainment Weekly

Morby’s third album Singing Saw is a collection of polished songs — even if much of its latter half blurs together.

80
Loud and Quiet
This is a real gem from a man who’s long hinted he was capable of one.
80
Q Magazine
Beauty that can slice down to bone: double-edged and deep.
80
Record Collector
The results are some of the most affecting works of his career, spun through with deep meanings and political sentiment.
80
The Sydney Morning Herald
On the title-track opener, a musical saw dances, alive, around Morby, and fuzz-driven single Dorothy finds him calling the sounds in his mind – drums, guitar, pianos, choir, calling fishermen, singing women – to life.
80
The Observer
Black Flowers, one of several tracks rooted in nature, typifies his songwriting prowess, its cryptic lyrics twinned with a gorgeous melody that is both pristine and familiar.
80
Mojo

Morby has delivered largely run-of-the-mill roots rock, but Singing Saw is more measured.

80
Clash

From the warm analogue production feel to the blemished vocal takes, ‘Singing Saw’ sounds timeless, with flashes of Dylan, cult Searching For Sugar Man star Rodriguez, and Bill Fay throughout.

80
Exclaim!

An album that finds him light-years beyond his previous release, revealing him to be one of today's most promising singer-songwriters.

80
No Ripcord

Singing Saw will be remembered as a breakthrough moment from an artist who’s now more comfortable articulating his own visual language.

80
NME

Using twilight walks into the mountains as inspiration and the shabby house he shares with his girlfriend, his guitars and an old piano as his base, Morby cooked up a glorious third album.

80
AllMusic

The match of songs and sounds on Singing Saw delivers on all the promise of his earlier records, while firmly establishing Morby as one of the best singer/songwriters going.

80
PopMatters

Singing Saw is the sound of affirmation, of both hard-earned talent and childlike imagination. As a result, Morby has discovered a sound which is organic without ever quoting, rocking without ever rolling at the same time, transcending while barely leaving the ground.

80
musicOMH

Morby has crafted a more diverse and atmospheric set of contexts, environments that mostly offer that voice the space to be centre stage, but which offer musical contributions that compensate for its emphasis on clarity and phrasing over melody.

80
Drowned in Sound

As a whole, Singing Saw is Morby’s best work. He’s becoming one of the most memorable singer songwriters to emerge from the States in years.

75
Consequence of Sound
While he may not be breaking new ground here, Morby shows that there’s plenty of resonance yet to be mined from familiar tropes while also finally finding a distinct voice within.
60
DIY
Definitely an album of two halves, by the time you hit ‘Ferris Wheel’ and ‘Destroyer’ the record drifts off into Dylan-isms that while are nice enough, don’t carry the same idiosyncratic weight of ‘Singing Saw’ or ‘Drunk and On A Star’ that will some day carve out a classic from this hugely promising talent.
Jallen2035
80

I have seen Kevin Morby live twice now and can say I think he does sound better live than on record, however, this album is still great and unique. It sounds like it is coming from a different planet at times, but still sounds so familiar, but not done before. 'I Have Been to the Mountain' is such a great song and a stand-out for me.

zachthesnack
83

Wow, this record inspired me so much. Been rly getting into alt-country lately.

Any suggestions?

Felix_96
80

8/10

exceptional

Fav tracks: <all songs>

FastFire
63

if bob dylan made an album in 2016 without an harmonica (quite a stretch)

Felix_96
80

8/10

exceptional

Fav tracks: <all songs>

Mondrain
90

Kevin Morby's Singing Saw is a incredibly melancholic and calming experience, almost putting me in a trance of sorts.

Fav Tracks: Singing Saw, Dorothy, Ferris Wheel, Destroyer, Black Flowers, Water
Least Fav Track: I Have Been to the Mountain

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Added on: January 19, 2016