Freshly Pressed – Mo Kenney “Signs of Life”

Canadian alt-folk artist Mo Kenney has recently released their new single “Signs of Life,” from the upcoming album entitled From Nowhere. The fifth studio album was created in collaboration with Joel Plaskett, Rose Cousins, Victoria Cameron, Siobhan Martin, Jordan Murphy, and “embraces the textures of ambiguity and the rich blur of being, failing, and becoming”. We caught up with Mo to chat about the new music, what first influenced them to become a musician, and their way of combating the dreaded writer’s block.

From The Strait: Tell us about the new single, “Signs of Life”.

Mo Kenney: When I wrote Signs of Life I was thinking a lot about how romantic relationships can sometimes mirror your relationships with your family. It’s a lot different from the rest of the album production-wise and that’s because we started recording it well before I went into the studio to make this upcoming record. We sped the instrumental up on tape and I cut a vocal to that track after the fact. The original was a lot slower. I think it moves in a satisfying way now.

From The Strait: What can fans expect from the upcoming From Nowhere LP?

Mo Kenney: I think this record is a good mix of everything I’ve done thus far. It’s a lot more acoustic based than my last record of original material – The Details.

From The Strait: What first influenced you to become a musician?

Mo Kenney: My uncle played guitar and I thought he was pretty cool. As soon as I got my first guitar I never looked back! Immediate obsession and I knew I wanted to play music forever.

From The Strait: If you could play a show where the audience was filled solely with other bands & musicians, who would you want in attendance?

Mo Kenney: Too scary!

From The Strait: All artists (save for the exceptionally lucky ones) experience writer’s block from time to time. How do you battle through a block when songwriting?

Mo Kenney: I find trying alternate tunings very helpful! It can be inspiring to try a new tuning and come up with melodies you might not normally find in standard. I think the best way to combat writers block is just to sit down and write even when you don’t feel like it. That’s something I find difficult to do, but it does always help.

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Check out the new single from Mo Kenney, “Signs of Life”!

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Follow Mo Kenney on Facebook & Instagram

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