New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "How do you put yourself into a record? I wanted to make it feel like you cracked open the ooze in my head," says Kendra Morris, the longtime NYC-based musician/artist who will release her new album I Am What I'm Waiting For on August 25 (Karma Chief / Colemine Records). Produced by Torbitt Schwartz aka
Little Shalimar (Run The Jewels), I Am What I'm Waiting For is not only a sophisticated and joyful reinvention, but an unfiltered expression of Morris's idiosyncratic worldview that luxuriates in the little details. Featuring Morris's towering voice over 11 shimmering songs bursting with dusty funk, R&B and touches of indie rock, it's a rare record that doubles as self-portrait, unvarnished yet thrilling because of its imperfections.
Morris has today released "What Are You Waiting For," a swaggering groove that champions realness and self-reliance. The video was made with VHS footage shot by friends Yvonne Ambrée and Leah Levitt, filmed in Morris' home neighborhood of Greenpoint Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan's Chinatown. Morris edited the footage herself to create the video. Says Morris about the premise: "A lot of my life in New York is either getting from point A to B or just waiting around. New York is the city of Hurry Up and Wait."
Watch The Video for "
What Are You Waiting For" Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKbaVIQcM8 + https://colemine.lnk.to/kcr12030
I Am What I'm Waiting For is the result of a life dedicated to the pursuit of creativity. Before she truly found her groove, Morris spent every waking hour either flirting with the famous as a bartender at the Lower East Side dive The Library — which thrust Morris directly into the heart of Manhattan's fertile post-Strokes creative scene - recording 8-track demos, or performing solo shows set to a backdrop of her own cassette tapes of stacked vocal harmonies. DIY since the beginning, she's also an accomplished stop motion animation artist that has made many of her own music videos in addition to projects for Skinshape, Czarface, MF Doom, Kangol and more.
While celebrating a recent birthday, Morris was shaken by the realization that old habits were holding her back from growth. Something needed to change, and fast. She began writing new songs and rethinking some of her old ones. Less-than-perfect takes were tolerated. She put a moratorium on love songs. As Morris put it: "I needed to scare myself into growth." Most of all, she dove into the details. I Am What I'm Waiting For is a journey through Kendra's weird universe: a trek through her fears of flying ("
Special"), the mundane conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation ("Dominoes"), the concept of the
Butterfly Effect ("
The Door") and a valiant attempt to expand the birthday song canon.
"
Special" takes a bleak approach to coping with fear and statistical unlikelihood. Says Morris: "I hate flying. I have no control over it and that's something that makes me crazy. So something I tell myself when I'm flying a lot is the statistic that your plane has the same chances of crashing as you have winning the lottery. I have never won anything." It's an anthem that revels in contentment and acceptance. "James Dean would never want to date me," she sings.
Interview Magazine has called Morris a "modern day Janis Joplin," NPR praised her "lush, moody mix of neo-soul" and she's worked with a wide array of collaborators, including DJ Premier, MF Doom,
Ghostface Killah, and
David Sitek. She burst onto the scene with her debut album nearly a decade ago and signed with Wax Poetics' record label. She has recently locked into a revived, prolific groove: she signed to Colemine's Karma Chief Records and released Nine Lives last year, deemed "beautifully sung" by MOJO. She reissued her 2016 album Babble earlier this year.
Morris will tour throughout 2023 with her band, across the US and internationally, including a hometown release show at Union Pool in Brooklyn on
September 23. See below for the full itinerary.
TRACK LIST:
When I Go To Space
Anywhere
What Are You Waiting For
Dominoes
The Door
All Your Jokes
Special
Still Spinning
Nightsnake
Birthday Song
One Last Joyride
TOUR DATES:
9/6/23 - The Lyric Theater - Blacksburg, VA
9/7/23 -
Black Iris - Richmond, VA
9/8/23 - Evening Muse - Charlotte, NC
9/9/23 - Otis Fest - Macon, GA
9/10/23 - Charleston Pour House - Charleston, SC
9/13/23 - Pour House
Music Hall - Raleigh, NC
9/14/23 - The Southern - Charlottesville, VA
9/23/23 - Union Pool - Brooklyn, NY
10/3/13 - Het Depot - Leuven, BE
10/4/23 - Le Pop Up - Paris, FR
10/5/23 - Jazz Sur Son 31 - Toulouse, FR
10/6/23 - Gorila - Zaragoza, ES
10/7/23 - Loco Club - Valencia, ES
10/8/23 - Intruso - Madrid, ES
10/9/23 - Sala Upload - Barcelona, ES
10/10/23 - Iboat - Bordeaux, FR
10/12/23 - La Sirene - La Rochelle, FR
10/13/23 - Paul B - Massy, FR
10/14/23 - Le Forum - Charleville Meziere, FR
10/17/23 - Le Poche - Bethune, FR
10/18/23 - Blues Kitchen - Manchester, UK
10/19/23 - The Forge - London, UK
10/22/23 - De Oostepoort - Groningen, LA*
11/3/23 - 7th St. Entry - Minneapolis, MN
11/4/23 - xBk Live - Des Moines, IA
11/5/23 - Hideout - Chicago, IL
11/6/23 - Beachland Tavern - Cleveland, OH
12/8/23 - Tellus 360 - Lancaster, PA
12/10/23 - DC9 - Washington, DC
12/14/23 - Motr - Cincinnati, OH
12/15/23 -
Square Cat Vinyl - Indianapolis, IN
*supporting Lee Fields.
