Kevin Morby settles into the cozy confines of the Long Pond studio in upstate New York, owned by Aaron Dessner of The Nationalto record “Little Wide Open”their eighth studio album.
“Little Wide Open –to publish the May 15– is set on tangled highways, towns with fewer than a hundred thousand people, roadside intersections, a rock and roll romance, couple butterflies, the life of an American artist, Econoline vans and more,” it says Morby. “This is, without a doubt, the most personal and vulnerable album I’ve ever made. Aaron did a heroic job of keeping me from adding too many gimmicks to the songs, allowing my stories to remain a bit bare. Despite its title, this album is, in fact, very open.”
“Javelin” refers to Morby’s relationship with Katie Crutchfield from Waxahatchee and describes it as “a song I wrote about being in love with someone with whom you continue to travel around the world, traveling tirelessly through the air and on highways, and then returning alone to middle America.”
The song features the participation of Amelia Meath, from Sylvan Essoabout whom Morby comments: “I invited her to the studio and asked her to create a backup chorus using only her voice, but her presence is so special that her “background voices” can’t help but take center stage.”
At other times of “Little Wide Open”Morby features Justin Vernon from Bon IverKatie Gavin from MUNALucinda Williams, Meg Duffy Hand HabitsMat Davidson, Oliver Hill, Rachel Baiman, Stuart Bogie, Tim Carr, Andrew Barr, Benjamin Lanz, Colin Croom and Tom Moth. Novelist Rachel Kushner also contributes an essay on the album, in which Morby relates many of the themes to the book “Field Guide to the North American Butterfly.”
Morby plans an extensive tour in 2026. Starting on May 8 at the studio-barn of Levon Helm in WoodstockNew York, until July 18 in Munich. Many dates will be supported by Liam Kazar.
