After almost three years since her debut, Grammy winner and country crossover artist Maren Morris is hitting the airwaves with her sophomore album, Girl.
The highly anticipated album is a genre-blended work of country, pop, soft rock and R&B. This works in Morris's favour, since her voice naturally fits well with different genres, as demonstrated by her 2018 pop collaboration with Zedd and Grey on "The Middle," as well as a performance alongside country outlaw Chris Stapleton and R&B gospel singer Mavis Staples.
Over half of Girl is dedicated to love songs, which is partly due to her 2018 marriage to fellow country artist Ryan Hurd, while the rest is a combination of girl power, equality and a "you do you" attitude.
This fits hand in hand with the fact that, during interviews with Paper Magazine and Rolling Stone, Morris said she went through personal growth since her debut, Hero, while Girl isn't so much about being independent, but rather accepting the idea of having people by her side as well as continuing to understand who she is.
On first single "Girl," country music's current feminist anthem. Morris sings how women are in this world together and instead of feeling sorry for themselves and putting others down, they should lift each other up. When writing "Girl", Morris said there was originally another woman as the main character, but she realized shortly afterwards she was actually writing it for herself.
Another empowering tune is "Flavor," a guitar-heavy metaphorical song about staying true to one's self. "The Feels" is upbeat and toe-tapping, with a solid cello rhythm throughout, while "A Song for Everything" has a soft country melody with a guitar, drum, piano and maracas combo. "Make Out With Me," a to-the-point love song, sounds like it's set in the 1950s, even crackling as if it's spinning on a turntable.
Morris also dives into two collaborations, one with Brothers Osborne called "All My Favorite People," and "Common," with Brandi Carlile. Both add to the overall themes of the album of not caring what others think and working together towards a better world. The fact that Brothers Osborne are a current key component in the country world and Carlile is an international sensation, especially after her recent Grammy performance, makes Girl that much more relevant.
What's impressive about Girl though is how strong Morris's vocals have grown, along with the maturity and uniqueness of each song. It's clear that Girl isn't a sophomore slump, but rather an album worth investing in.
(Sony)The highly anticipated album is a genre-blended work of country, pop, soft rock and R&B. This works in Morris's favour, since her voice naturally fits well with different genres, as demonstrated by her 2018 pop collaboration with Zedd and Grey on "The Middle," as well as a performance alongside country outlaw Chris Stapleton and R&B gospel singer Mavis Staples.
Over half of Girl is dedicated to love songs, which is partly due to her 2018 marriage to fellow country artist Ryan Hurd, while the rest is a combination of girl power, equality and a "you do you" attitude.
This fits hand in hand with the fact that, during interviews with Paper Magazine and Rolling Stone, Morris said she went through personal growth since her debut, Hero, while Girl isn't so much about being independent, but rather accepting the idea of having people by her side as well as continuing to understand who she is.
On first single "Girl," country music's current feminist anthem. Morris sings how women are in this world together and instead of feeling sorry for themselves and putting others down, they should lift each other up. When writing "Girl", Morris said there was originally another woman as the main character, but she realized shortly afterwards she was actually writing it for herself.
Another empowering tune is "Flavor," a guitar-heavy metaphorical song about staying true to one's self. "The Feels" is upbeat and toe-tapping, with a solid cello rhythm throughout, while "A Song for Everything" has a soft country melody with a guitar, drum, piano and maracas combo. "Make Out With Me," a to-the-point love song, sounds like it's set in the 1950s, even crackling as if it's spinning on a turntable.
Morris also dives into two collaborations, one with Brothers Osborne called "All My Favorite People," and "Common," with Brandi Carlile. Both add to the overall themes of the album of not caring what others think and working together towards a better world. The fact that Brothers Osborne are a current key component in the country world and Carlile is an international sensation, especially after her recent Grammy performance, makes Girl that much more relevant.
What's impressive about Girl though is how strong Morris's vocals have grown, along with the maturity and uniqueness of each song. It's clear that Girl isn't a sophomore slump, but rather an album worth investing in.
