Before arriving at Sony Music, Morgan Wade was stopping hearts and attracting attention for her ability to slice into moments of raw pain like they were an apple on the counter. Simple, straight-forward, the songs on Reckless reckoned with a more literal kind of pain and a strong self-awareness that prompted HITS to deem her “Kristofferson as a Gen Z woman.”
Unabashed, those songs resonated in ways few modern records do. With that in mind, Reckless, Rolling Stone Country‘s No. 1 Album of 2021, is an album as much – or even more – than a collection of hit singles. To that end, the vocalist covered in tattoos is committed to exploring and exposing more of its music as ‘Wilder Days’ scales the country radio charts in the US, having already been to No. 1 on SiriusXM The Highway’s Top 30 Countdown.
In the UK, the album became Radio 2’s Album Of The Week and ‘Wilder Days’ was also championed as Record Of The Week and enjoyed A-List rotation at the station for well over a month, along with radio play across many other UK stations.
With Reckless (Deluxe Edition) offering her scalding take on Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’, a revamped version of the white-knuckle single that presaged Reckless, ‘The Night’, and the churning ‘Run’, Morgan Wade has spent 2022 expanding her musical footprint. Now she releases the semi-minimalist video ‘Take Me Away‘.
“Making videos, especially ones that aren’t so literal, gives people other tastes and flavours – and room for their own story,” says the Floyd, Virginia songwriter. “It pulls them into the music, both the song and what this whole album is, because the pieces together show you all the ways someone can be broken down, can desire, can engage… that’s a bigger truth than any one song.”
Shot by celebrated photographer and filmmaker David McClister, a contributor to the prestigious Annenberg Space for Photography’s Country: Portraits of an American Sound, Wade retreated to an abandoned building in Watertown, Tennessee to face the camera alone – and seek the solace she requires, embrace the need the song suggests and perhaps break out of her own self-imposed exile in the face of whatever was weighing her down so profoundly.
Filmed largely in tight portraits of the vocalist, some straight to the viewer, some captured as more documentary footage, what emerges is the torment of those lost hours people face, uncertain, frustrated and aching. Beyond a study of her various tattoos, ‘Take Me Away’ explores the vulnerability of a capable young person racked by life’s at-times-overwhelming realities – and seeking rescue from the torment.
“But in the end,” Wade says, “she saves herself. I love that this video shows that paralysed place, the sadness that is overwhelming. But then after trying the door, she picks up a chair and busts out a window. She knows she needs to escape – and does it by any means necessary. Any means!
“And when she steps through the window, and into the day, you can feel the relief and how beautiful the springtime is. It’s an instant blast of better – which is the whole point, really.”
Debuting today (March 24th), ‘Take Me Away’ is an escape as much from self as anyone else. With Billboard writing, “Wade embraces all her rough edges with no desire to sand them down,” and Wonderland Magazine, “‘Take Me Away’ beautifully unites warm-toned instrumentation and Morgan’s twangy vocals in perfect unison, and the result? A ballad-esque display with a soulful core and lyricism sure to enchant upon first listen.” The video demonstrates sometimes rough edges are more compelling than the picture perfect projections social media suggests are actual life embodied. Just watch.
Morgan Wade received a rapturous response when she played the UK for the first time earlier this month, where she performed on arena stages for C2C Festival. Following the performance Morgan announced a UK tour for June 2022 with shows selling out in minutes. Morgan announced an extra London date due to phenomenal demand. The final tickets remaining for that show are available for purchase here.
MORGAN WADE JUNE 2022 UK HEADLINE TOUR DATES
20th – London, The Garage
21st – London, The Garage *SOLD OUT*
23rd – Glasgow, Oran Mor *SOLD OUT*
24th – Manchester, Academy 3 *SOLD OUT*
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