IN THE TERRACED garden of a mid-century house in the hills above the Sunset Strip, Moses Sumney is preparing for an intimate night of industry networking. It has been a swelteringly hot day, but the sun is starting to dip. A cool breeze is blowing in on the shaded gravel patio upstairs, where the musician and actor’s performance is being set up. Tall and striking in loose black pants, a black vest, and sunglasses and adorned with strings of gold necklaces, Sumney is running through a set list of songs from his upcoming EP, Sophcore, starting with the burbling “I’m Better (I’m Bad).” His band is relatively new (some of them met and rehearsed with Sumney for the first time just the day before), but you would never know it from listening as they warm up and lock in. Between lyrics, Sumney sings directions to the soundboard like “More guitar” and “Remember, we don’t have drums.” He asks saxophonist Alden Hellmuth to play some little arpeggios, and she comes in softly.
The mic stand holds three mics, one running through an Auto-Tune filter that makes Sumney sound tenderly distorted. It is adorned with a large bouquet of hydrangeas and wildflowers, as though his voice were coaxing the flowers to open. The audience, made up of music supervisors, eventually arrives for what’s known as a showcase. This is where Sumney will debut his new material in the hope that it might find placement in film and TV shows, adding to his list of more than 20 credits. He lightly roasts the crowd, asking if people finished cutting their trailers prior to the show and joking about clearing “needle drops.” He then introduces a song by suggesting what kind of movie it might soundtrack— one with a plot of childhood sweethearts reunited—and it slowly becomes clear that he’s describing Celine Song’s Past Lives.
Denne historien er fra July 24 - August 11, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 24 - August 11, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Escape Artist
PinkPantheress blew up anonymously on TikTok. Now, her Y2K dance-pop influences the masses.
The Parasites of MALIBU
Anthony Flores and Anna Moore met Dr. Mark Sawusch at an ice-cream shop.
THE INVITED
WHEN YOU'RE A VIC-\"VERY IMPORTANT CLIENT\" -LUXURY BRANDS ANYTHING TO KEEP YOU HAPPY (AND SPENDING). WILL DO
LEARNING THE ART OF SEDUCTION FROM THE KING OF HÖRNINESS
There are two things that make women happy,” Usher Raymond IV tells me.
Magic Mikey
She gave up competitive horseback riding to pursue acting. Now, the rising star is getting awards buzz for her role as a determined stripper in Anora
'Mommy, Can We Go to Paris?
You try explaining to my kid why he can't do the wildly expensive things some of his Brownstone Brooklyn classmates take for granted.
Plus-Size Shopping in the Wild
Samyra Miller’s quest to find clothes at the mall that fit.
Hungry for More
A decade of Chicken Shop Date behind her, Amelia Dimoldenberg is still holding out for the One.
BIRTHDAY SUITS
On the cusp of 50, CHLOË SEVIGNY is ready for a change.
Art Fall Preview - World in Motion - An Alvin Ailey retrospective sets the tone for an array of eclectic offerings from the art world this fall.
An Alvin Ailey retrospective sets the tone for an array of eclectic offerings from the art world this fall. A gust of fresh air is blowing through the art world. A brand-new outfit called Ruby/Dakota has opened on the supercool strip of East 2nd Street. A whole new scene has formed around 56 Henry's two gallery spaces in Chinatown, and solo shows there by Laurie Simmons and Richard Tinkler promise to scintillate. Just north of the Whitney, Fort Gansevoort Gallery regularly showcases undiscovered artists, including, in September, 84-year-old quilt-maker extraordinaire Yvonne Wells. A gaggle of established artists are also exhibiting-Kara Walker, Simone Leigh, Nick Cave, and the still under-known Denzil Forrester among them. And the museums will have their fair share of thrilling exhibitions, too: The Whitney will feature American national treasure Alvin Ailey, MoMA will peer deep into its own brilliant bellybutton in a show about the woman who helped make the museum, and the Brooklyn Museum will give us an enormous show of artists based in its borough.