ALBUM REVIEW: Morgan Wade’s New Album “Reckless”
ALBUM REVIEW: Morgan Wade’s New Album “Reckless”
Rock-Country artist makes her mark with her long-awaited debut album.
Words by: Ysabela De Ocampo
Virginia native singer/songwriter, Morgan Wade, shares her debut album Reckless today. The record sets the stage for who Morgan Wade is and what she’s been through — comprised of 10 tracks, co-produced by Paul Ebersol and Jason Isbell’s guitarist, Sadler Vaden, and recorded in Nashville, TN. Wade’s early influences, and Nashville’s music scene shine through in the record. Reckless shows off the sound Wade has cultivated over the years. With strong country and bluegrass instrumental and vocal influences, she takes elements of pop and rock songwriting and marries them together.
Reckless opens up with her previously release single, “Wilder Days.” The track introduces all the elements that make up this record, from retro-toned guitars, hints of strong basslines and most importantly, a tight drum beat. Layers of Wade’s harmonies and melodic choruses add depth to the track, without cluttering the instrumental layers heard throughout. Wade exclaims that “Wilder Days” is about “falling in love with someone at the wrong time. Two people being at two different stages in life and just wishing they were on the same page. It’s about knowing if they could go back in time, they would work.” Similar themes are explored later on in the record, making “Wilder Days” a strong introductory track.
Morgan Wade’s more personal and honest songs follow up “Wilder Days.” Songs like “Matches and Metaphors,” “Other Side,” and “Don’t Cry” are more of a message or stories written to oneself. Wade shares, “I feel like the last couple of years have been me trying to figure out where I fit in, who I fit in with, and what’s going on. When I wrote these songs, I was going through a lot, just trying to figure out who I am” — and it’s most apparent in the artistry of the lyrics for these three tracks.
Lyrics like, “Being a gypsy ain’t so bad when you’re with me. Because I never have to be alone. You’ve seen the parts of me that the world says I should hide,” show that though at times these tracks sound like she is singing to someone else, they’re much more self reflective. “Don’t Cry” is the strongest track of the three. It’s a confession, “I’ll always be my own worst critic. The world exists and I’m just in it. Find something good and mess it up, Lie and say it just wasn’t enough.”
Scattered across Reckless are tracks about Morgan Wade’s personal relationships. “Mend,” “Last Cigarette,” and “Take Me Away” showcase her storytelling. “I’d write songs but didn’t tell anybody about it. It was like some kind of secret. Even as a kid, it was what I liked to do: I’d go off into my own little world and write songs and stories.” says Wade. “Mend” and “Take Me Away” reveal that even a the strongest of stones can be cracked — as she sings lines like, “Turn that car around. You don’t need to be leaving me now. Come to bed and I will shut my mouth…I’m so broken.” Or, “The woman in me, she needs the lover in you. I think you know what to do.”
While, Wade’s words come out as a cry to be “saved” by someone else rather than yourself, and may be interpreted as weakness — her vulnerable state simply showcases being torn down to the studs before the rebuild begins. Instrumentally, it tiptoes on the line of total country music, with all the car metaphors and howling slow guitars. She redeems herself with the carefully crafted lyrics on “Last Cigarette.” The song is tinged with a pulsating bassline that doesn’t come through as strongly as on other tracks. Its message blurs the lines with metaphors between an addicting unhealthy love being similar to smoking cigarettes.
The title track, “Reckless” is all about love gone wrong. It’s paired with contemplative tempo that’s held together by the driving drum beat and shows off more instrumentally dynamic elements compared to other tracks. “Northern Air” is a refreshing shuffle beat. Sparse and quieter guitars sit underneath the tight snare allows for voice to really come to the forefront. Wade sings a one-sided message to a past partner she misses, someone who moved far away. It’s one of her more relatable and universal tracks on the record.
Reckless closes with gentle track, “Met You.” It’s dancing keys glimmer in the back between the breaths of Wade’s cry, making the tune stand out from others. Her lyricism aches of lost love, different from the other tracks, where her writing is transparent about bitter relationships. This one tells the story of finding great love, and she turns it around in the last line where she expresses losing the other person. “I’d seen it all – or so I thought – until I lost you.” Leaving you on a lyrical cliffhanger, wanting to know more about Morgan Wade’s story.
On Reckless, Wade says, “I feel like the last couple of years have been me trying to figure out where I fit in, who I fit in with, and what’s going on. I’m almost four years sober, so a lot of the friends I had, I don’t really hang out with anymore. When I wrote these songs, I was going through a lot, just trying to figure out who I am.” Morgan Wade’s songwriting is sometimes so honest, its self-deprecating at times, but other times well said when intertwined with metaphors. Her voice is a unique, raspy soprano that really brings out her inner aches, she has the ability to bring out a smooth croon or a raspy cry.
Growing up in Floyd, Virginia, Morgan Wade’s musical roots date back to times in her childhood when her grandparents would take her to bluegrass jam sessions where musicians would gather out in the streets. At 19 years old, she performed at an open mic in Floyd, marking the start of her music career. Later on she would tour with her band the Stepbrothers, and generating a grassroots following and high profile attention, including Vader’s. For fans of Kat Hasty, Jacob Isbell and Donna Missal, Morgan Wade is making a place for herself in the country-rock community. She shares her debut album Reckless, ready for her own voice to be heard.
