And in 2020, he not only held down “Heartless,” Diplo’s EDM foray into the Wild West, but dropped “7 Summers,” a soft-focus Eagles-style ballad about a boy who lost a girl because he wouldn’t leave his East Tennessee home. In 2019, he converted “Cover Me Up,” the signature song of anti-bro Jason Isbell, into a hymn of support for returning veterans. As easy as his country goes down, Wallen stays committed to exploring interesting new directions. But his 2018 debut, If I Know Me, proved Wallen could ride solo on cleverly penned everyman hits like “Whiskey Glasses,” a honky-tonk heartbreak sing-along about getting over your blues with something a little stronger than beer goggles. His breakthrough came with 2017’s “Up Down,” a Southern-rock spring break anthem that radiated frosty-can cool with help from Florida Georgia Line. By 2014, he’d managed to get onto and eliminated from The Voice, but not before showing an innate versatility and relaxed style. He was born in 1993 in tiny Sneedville, Tennessee, and grew up singing harmonies with his sisters in the church where their father preached. ![]() ![]() Of course, with a voice steeped in Appalachian smoke, country is practically Wallen’s birthright. You have to have a certain boot-and-blue-jeans swagger, good humor, and lack of self-importance to pull off a mullet in the 21st century, but Wallen has all that in spades, not to mention a taste for sounds that belie the look. Morgan Wallen’s band members have a name for his hairdo: the Tennessee Waterslide. Producer Joey Moi's fingerprints are all over Dangerous, but Moi-known for work with acts like Florida Georgia Line and Jake Owen-treads more lightly on these tracks than is typical of his work behind the boards, making for an album focused more on letting each song shine than producing radio hits. Opener "Sand in My Boots" shows that Wallen can put his own spin on a hometown song without veering into lyrical cliché. Closing track "Quittin' Time" is an Eric Church co-write, linking Wallen to another country act known for eschewing conventions in favor of artistry. And he clearly honed his vocal chops out on the road, with his performances on Dangerous spanning gritty twang, brassy rock, and soulful crooning, often within a single track.Īmong its 30 songs, Dangerous includes massive singles like "More Than My Hometown" and "7 Summers," as well as Wallen's popular cover of Isbell's Southeastern track "Cover Me Up" and an album version of the Diplo collaboration "Heartless." Chris Stapleton guests on standout cut "Only Thing That's Gone," with Stapleton's barrel-aged vocal pairing well with Wallen's younger vintage. The album length alone shows his willingness to buck conventional genre trends, with influences from artists as wildly different as Jason Isbell and Diplo proving Wallen to be as adventurous in his listening as he is in his bar escapades. His songwriting, which veers between tender and tongue-in-cheek, has grown more confident. Weighing in at a hefty 30 tracks, the double LP is a wide-ranging showcase of what country fans initially loved about Wallen and a document of how he has grown as an artist. ![]() It's no surprise, then, that Wallen's sophomore effort would be an ambitious one. 1 hits off If I Know Me and announcing himself as an artist to watch. ![]() Buoyed by a 2014 stint on The Voice, Wallen quickly struck country gold, scoring three No. His outsized public persona-including a couple minor run-ins with the law and a penchant for sleeveless shirts-only upped his star status, setting him apart from the scores of other male country artists vying for the genre's attention. When Morgan Wallen burst onto the scene in 2018 with his debut album If I Know Me, fans were instantly charmed by the young country artist's clever songwriting, star-worthy vocal chops, and knack for crafting an infectious melody.
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