Photo by Aria Herbst

On 2020’s acclaimed Græ, Moses Sumney doubled down on experimental ambitions in a capacity that sounded serious and ornate in crafting proper art in the songwriting form. Four years have raced by with few movements on the Sumney front beyond his occasional dalliances with Hollywood, but his return on “I’m Better (I’m Bad)”, a highlight from his recently released extended play, Sophcore, sounds like he’s used that time to evolve into a natural reactionary state where he’s comfortable allowing carnal instincts take the reigns. Here, Sumney gives himself permission to seek out the soul through flesh in a contemporary cool vessel that uses his past life’s smoothest materials and hits them up raw against a horny luster of R&B-pop elixir. “I used to be such a simp / So simple / Now that I’m poppin’ and fine / No pimple,” he rhymes into every groove. “Hey, wanna hop on my line / Akimbo / But I just spin ’em like dimes / A himbo.” He sounds comfortable in the glow of this skin. Good for himbo.

Moses Sumney’s Sophcore is available now on Tumtum.