ALBUM REVIEW: Morgan Wade’s Voice Punches Through on ‘Psychopath’
John Amen
Posted On August 23, 2023
With her third album, Psychopath, Morgan Wade steps more fully into her rock and pop leanings while remaining loyal to her country roots. As with her previous LP, 2021’s Reckless (ND review), Psychopath touches on eager love, doomed love, and faded love, among other archetypal themes, each song carried by Wade’s alternately fatigued and indomitable voice.
“My roses are dead / all my pills are blue / the house is a wreck,” Wade moans on opener “Domino,” using stock images, including a reference to Valium, to portray a relationship or hook-up that provides comfort yet seems ultimately unreliable. On the more jangly “80’s Movie,” she reflects, “we took a ride in your dad’s Corvette.” What could be more tried-and-true than a line that evokes cruising in a quintessentially American sports car? She adds, “you kissed me before you flipped the cassette,” stirring a sense of long-gone days and youthful romance.
On “Guns and Roses,” minimal production and Wade’s heartfelt delivery bring to mind Ashley McBryde’s homespun yet riveting debut Girl Going Nowhere. “Chasing after you feels a little dangerous,” Wade sings, though you get the sense that the unpredictability (“Are you gonna give me paradise / are you gonna shoot everything you see?”) appeals on some level. “Phantom Feelings,” meanwhile, shows Ward disclosing regrets over a failed relationship. Her voice is sorrowful yet resilient, regretful yet equanimous, weathered yet confident.
Morgan Wade (photo by Matthew Berinato)
“All of your dreams are your parents’ fears,” she observes on the title song, offering one of the album’s more memorable lines. On “Fall in Love with Me,” she embraces an uber-pop cadence à la mid-oeuvre Taylor Swift. “Meet Somebody” is one of the more intriguing tracks from a production standpoint. Wade’s voice is slightly overdriven and slurry as if she’s had a drink or two (or three, plus who knows what else). The instrumentation is lo-fi-ish, noisy, dronish, conjuring Jack White’s Dead Weather foray or the “sleaze rock” aspects of ’70s-era Aerosmith.
With Psychopath, Morgan Wade continues to display her versatility, crafting accessible narratives while reveling in textbook hooks. The album highlights her broadening range and skillful integrations of country, rock, and pop elements. It’s her voice, though, that gives the project unity and punch, equally effective whether expressing grief, uncertainty, or hope.
Morgan Wade’s Psychopath is out Aug. 25 on Sony Music Nashville
