Maren Morris, Self-Titled EP Review
Until a few months ago, no one had ever heard of Maren Morris. Now, that’s changed. Nashville has been churning out sensational country newcomers as of late, and Morris is making a point to carve her name on that list. With the highly anticipated release of her self-titled EP, this 25 year old is giving listeners something fresh on their palettes, and they’re paying attention.
Released on November 6th, 2015, through Sony Music Nashville, the five-song EP opens with the anthemic breakout hit, “My Church.” Morris preaches her version of church, belting out country classics in her car with the windows down. This three-minute power ballad is the Texas native’s personal confessional. “Can I get a Hallelujah?” she asks, as she finds her “soul revival, singing every single verse.” Morris knows she’s made mistakes, but music is her “holy redemption,” the place she can go to find her escape from the weight of her sins. She sings each line with conviction, driving the song, and giving it a more sultry rock kick. Gospel-style backing vocals and claps add to the “church” feel, and give it more of a soulful blues-rock style.
The second track on the album, “80’s Mercedes,” gives audiences more insight to the wide range of dimensions Morris, her pipes, and songwriting abilities, can pull off. Genre classification or not, there is no mistaking this for a country song. It’s purely pop. Morris sings, “Feel like a hard-to-get starlet when I'm driving,” “call me old school but hey I'm a 90's baby in my 80's Mercedes.” Once that radio is on and convertible top is down, she’s ready to roll and have a good time in her “teenage time machine,” that 80’s Mercedes-Benz. Lyrically, it’s well written. Production wise, it’s infectious. Genre aside, you’ll be singing along to this track while it plays on repeat in what you’re probably wishing was a Mercedes.
“Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” is the third song on the EP, and ups the lyrical honesty to yet another level. Like the first two, it is produced and written well. “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” bluntly calls out girls everywhere for letting guys feed them “bullshit” and walk all over them when the girls really should be kicking them to the curb along with the trash. An electric guitar with an old-school reggae style adds to the no-shits-given attitude of this one.
The EP continues with its penultimate track, “I Wish I Was.” Morris displays multiple dimensions and layers again with this slower, bluesy ballad. She reveals her vulnerability by explaining her faults. Although her and her man go together “on paper,” and as much as she wants to be, she’s “not the hero in the story. She is willing to accept blame, even hate, because he’s looking for true love, and Morris knows she can’t give him what he wants. Although she admits she’s not the one, she wishes she was. Morris croons every line with a soulful tenderness, and all is believed.
The self-titled EP closes out with “Company You Keep,” a feel good pop-influenced track that illuminates the notion that life is not about what you do and how much money you spend, “it’s all about the company you keep.” Morris sings, “together we can do whatever” and the details don’t matter, because all she wants is someone to keep her company. This track has similar pop influences and production like earlier ballads, but has more of a light, bubbly feel. It’s a fitting close to a pop heavy country album from a breakout Nashville star.
With this EP, Maren Morris has set out to establish herself as a breakthrough country artist. It’s easy to compare her to a budding Kacey Musgraves, which holds truth in the similar expressive and blunt lyrical and musical style. Where Morris differentiates herself, however, is in her more sultry, rock-influenced edge. It is clear that Maren Morris is not a little girl, she’s a young woman with a strong voice and writing style that Nashville is listening to, and rightfully so.