Did Morgan Wallen Just Reveal the Name of His New Album in the ‘Smile’ Music Video?

Morgan Wallen has presented us with a surprise new release, with the Sneedville megastar making ‘Smile’, his ethereal, heartbreaking single, available at long last. But we suspect there's another unexpected gift for fans hidden in his music video for ’Smile’...

It's rare for Morgan Wallen to drop a music video alongside one of his singles, with the fact that he's done so for ‘Smile’ seemingly underlining how special this song is to him, as well as highlighting that the rollout for his new album is - excitingly - picking up pace.

The cinematic visuals follow Wallen as he prepares for a New Year's Eve performance on a fictional talk-show, hosted by his friend and Sundae Conversation comedian, Caleb Pressley. His on-screen girlfriend is waiting in his dressing room with him, and he gives her one long forlorn look before heading to the stage.

Rather than performing the breezy, uptempo ‘Love Somebody’, as was planned, Morgan Wallen decides to go off-script and deliver a sincere but mournful take on his new song, ‘Smile’, as that appears to better reflect how he's feeling about his relationship.

The producers are sent into a panic, and the festive crowd look around in confusion, due to ‘Smile’ not exactly matching the supposedly jovial ambience of New Year's Eve.

However, before too long, the audience become enraptured by Morgan Wallen's brooding, spellbinding performance, and the network ratings soar. Yet when Wallen returns to his dressing room, he's all alone as the Pressley counts down to midnight.

Aside from being an extra treat for fans and a powerful way to bring the moving story behind ‘Smile’ to life, we think this Justin Clough-directed music video might contain a tantalising clue as to what Morgan Wallen's next studio album is going to be called.

The talk-show that Caleb Pressley hosts in the visuals is called Dark Til Daylight, with the phrase plastered all over Morgan Wallen's dressing room and on-set during his performance. It's a name that fits the talk-show in the ‘Smile’ narrative, given the fact that they're ringing in the New Year, but nonetheless feels somewhat pointed.

We had a look for anything called ‘Dark Til Daylight’ on ASCAP and BMI's ACE Repertory, a database where songwriters submit songs they've penned, even if they haven't been released yet.

A quick search reveals that there is just one song that's been registered under that name, written by three prominent country songsmiths, Rocky Block (who co-wrote ‘Smile’), Jimmy Robbins and Chris Tompkins (one of the writers on ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’).

Interestingly, ‘Dark Til Daylight’ is yet to be officially assigned a ‘Performer’, which usually indicates it's an unreleased track. We therefore think Dark Til Daylight might be the name of Morgan Wallen's new album, with Rocky Block, Jimmy Robbins and Chris Tompkins having potentially written the title-track from the project.

Of course, this is just speculation, but we certainly feel Dark Til Daylight would match the introspective, gloomy ambience of tracks such as ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ and ‘Smile‘, which find Wallen exploring the limbo in-between a faltering romance and a break-up.

Judging from the trio of singles released from the project so far, ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’, ‘Love Somebody’ and ‘Smile’, there appears to be more of a cohesive narrative in place compared to his previous records, which felt more like expansive, rip-roaring playlists, with Morgan Wallen possibly readying a concept album.

With a title like Dark Til Daylight, perhaps we're going to get a double-album in the style of Dangerous, with one half of the album (Dark) filled with melancholic, introspective reflections, such as ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ and ’Smile’, and the second (Daylight) pervaded by more uptempo, playful textures, such as ‘Love Somebody’.

The contrast between the greyscale artwork for ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ and ‘Smile’ with the ‘Love Somebody’ sunrise cover could be Wallen's way of hinting at this duality on the new album.

We'll have to wait and see whether these predictions are on-point or off-base, because until Morgan Wallen announces his next studio record, details will be kept under wraps.

But either way, any new music from Morgan Wallen is cause for celebration, and with the arrival of ‘Smile’, it seems his new album is getting closer and closer - and we can't wait.

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