Kylie Morgan has released her debut EP today – Love Kylie – featuring the breakout single ‘Break Things.’ Here, we review the new EP and give our verdict. Stream the EP everywhere here.
As an up and coming artist, Kylie Morgan has already defined a clear sense of her sound, voice and artistry. Today, she has channelled that fire into her debut EP – Love, Kylie – a fiery project that catapults Morgan into the spotlight, revealing a compelling vulnerability below the explosive exterior. It’s an immensely cohesive chapter that kicks off an exciting new artist’s career in full force.
Kylie Morgan began her musical journey back in Oklahoma, with Shania Twain’s Up! album helping shape her early dreams of pop-country stardom – who eventually became her label mate. That influence is clear in the explosive kick off track opening the EP – ‘Shoulda’ – it’s a sassy, stomping and rapid-fire vocal led track about the should’ve known betters when dabbling with an ex. ‘Shoulda hung up when I saw your name / Oh, I knew better than to ever think that you could change.’ It’s a thumping track with a heavy rock edge and is simply a massive opening track. The high energy is carried through into Kylie’s brazen second track ‘I Only Date Cowboys,’ where Morgan sings ‘Take a couple notes from John Wayne, learn a thing or two from Jesse James / Because I only date cowboys.’ It’s a heavy rock-tinged country track with a heavy hook and solidifying the sassier side of Morgan’s sound that allows her vocal to run free – a territory Morgan initially led claim to with her breakout single ‘Break Things’ – a mammoth warning to a future lover. ‘So don’t stand too close / Oh no, don’t fall too hard / I ain’t a promise in the dark / ‘Cause I break things.’
Morgan though is an artist of many dimensions, as she demonstrates on the more ethereally tender track ‘Outdoor Voices’ – a swelling mid-tempo track about honouring your true self. It’s poignant, brim full of meaning and showcases the unique qualities of Morgan’s vocal, amidst the surrounding instrumentation. ‘Tell you to keep it down / But I can hear you now.’ It’s a tender side Morgan brings back in the stunningly emotional track ‘Cheating On You’ that is a highlight on the project. It’s a longing contemporary ode to an emotionally distant partner, a yearning track full of pain. ‘Why does it feel like I’m cheating on you / Even though you’re lying next to me? / Why does it feel like a hotel room / And there’s a stranger in the bed with me?’ It’s a consider and evocative track that brings back very raw and real feelings – in a wholly new way.
Morgan rounds out the project with the lilting love song ‘Mad I Need You’ – a track from the perspective of an independent woman who is coming to terms with being in love – it’s an emotionally heavy track that again puts Morgan’s gorgeously distinctive vocal at the forefront. On Love, Kylie, Morgan has demonstrated the breadth of her artistry – from infectious pop country to introspective honesty – a collection of tracks that posit her as an artist worthy of note.
