First Listen: Holler Staff Reacts to Morgan Wallen’s New Album, ‘I'm the Problem’

One of the most highly anticipated albums of the past two years is finally here. In this time, Morgan Wallen has solidified himself as the biggest country artist of the modern era - and the expectations surrounding each project have risen in tandem with this.

With 2023's One Thing At A Time on track to surpass the record-breaking chart run of Dangerous, and Wallen already earning a slew of hits in the form of I'm the Problem's lead singles, ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ and ‘Love Somebody’, the stage was set.

After spending our mornings poring over Wallen's new 37-song record, I'm the Problem, the Holler staff have their say:

On I’m the Problem, it feels like Morgan Wallen is playfully goading his critics. You didn’t like how long his last album was? Well, here’s an even longer one. Didn’t approve of him introducing trap beats into country music? Well, how about a trap version of a Keith Whitley song.

But there’s something special about the fact that, on the grandest stage yet, Wallen pares it down and delivers a record that feels tailor-made for his fans, rather than trying to appease anyone else.

We get the irresistible melodic flourishes, vocal acrobatics and satisfying - and at times outrageous - wordplay we’ve loved since If I Know Me, while still leaving room for plenty of growth and experimentation.

Whether you approached I’m the Problem as a skeptic or an aficionado, there’s no denying Wallen’s willingness to push the envelope and take bold, uncompromising risks - both in terms of the subject matter and the sonics. We’ve never heard Wallen getting as real with us as he does on ‘I’m a Little Crazy’, ‘Superman’ and the hidden gem of the album, ‘Revelation’, while we’ve also never seen him strip away the production as much as he does on I’m the Problem.

Although it’s undoubtedly a long project, it feels more cohesive than One Thing At A Time. Despite there being an eclectic array of textures and influences, ranging from indie-pop (‘Genesis’) to emo-trap (‘Miami’), Wallen maintains a brooding, atmospheric ambience throughout.

The star of the show has always been Wallen’s voice, and he delivers some of his most evocative vocal performances yet on the likes of ‘Falling Apart’, ‘Smile’ and ‘Drinking ‘Til It Does’, stretching and moulding his charismatic drawl from vulnerable to vindictive depending on the mood. It’s intimate, it’s raw, it’s visceral. What other artist could keep us captivated for 37 songs?

It’s a shame that you have to make your way through 36 tracks of country mediocrity with the very occasional high, to get to the album highlight ‘I’m A Little Crazy’.

A genuinely good track, it’s tired, world-weary and painful (in the way you want a country song to be).

When Wallen’s got (or given) a story to tell, he does have the voice to make it hit pretty hard: the closer, the gripping ballad of ‘Jack and Jill’, the acceptance of a breakup on ‘Leavin’s The Least I Could Do’ (this one’s got a Wallen writing cred), and the cleverly-spun devil’s playground of ‘Genesis’ being a few possible highpoints.

But there’s a staggering number of co-writers on this album for it to have a consistent sense of genuine artistic identity, and for a seemingly endless album, it renders too many of the tracks unnecessary, unmemorable, and unintentional.

Also, ‘Miami’ - avoid at all costs. Keith, I’m so sorry.

If you're someone who looks for wider subtexts and societal metanarratives in Morgan Wallen songs, then your head might just explode unpacking the paradigms of modern masculinity on I'm The problem.

From shifting the blame for his problematic behaviour onto women to removing his bloody knuckles from a drywall and humbly comparing being a single father to being a bit like Superman, Morgan casts himself as an archetypal man child; a lost little boy asking you to love him despite all his faults.

Seemingly incapable of doing basic adult tasks, he behaves like an out-of-control adolescent a lot of the time, taking simple suggestions as a personal assault and getting defensive every time he is confronted with his shortcomings. Whatever mess he makes of things, he always has an excuse, even if it's often just that he's a little bit pathetic and he can't help it. On top of all that, when he finally accepts that he might actually be the problem after all, he still manages to reframe himself as the victim.

"I’m why the shit don’t change," he sings on the 45 second long 'Interlude' - it feels like an accidentally perceptive encapsulation of everything wrong with cishet white men in the 21st century.

That doesn't mean I'm The Problem isn't an enjoyable, thoroughly engaging listen. Like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Morgan Wallen's main character is an intriguing, strangely loveable, slightly delusional anti-hero, and when he hits a rich seam on songs like ' I’m A Little Crazy,' 'Skoal, Chevy and Browning' and 'Number 3 and Number 7' this is absolute solid country gold.

You don't have to always love the lead to love the movie.

Of the collaborations, only 'I Ain’t Coming Back' with Post Malone shows Wallen pushing himself artistically, tapping into the same creative spark he hit with 'I Had Some Help'. The other features — with Eric Church, HARDY, and Ernest — feel like diluted versions of each artist’s own sound. Meanwhile, the much-hyped Tate McRae duet is a repetitive, half-hearted placeholder that may actually turn off listeners unfamiliar with her voice.

Among the solo tracks, 'Love Somebody' stands out — a genre-blending, hook-heavy hit that finally brings both vocal and instrumental melody to the forefront. What stings? It dropped last year. We didn’t need to wait this long to hear something truly promising.

'Miami' will almost certainly be a summer smash, and every one of these tracks will do what they’re meant to: rack up Spotify streams. But is that really what we want music to be for now?

'Come Back As A Redneck' (with HARDY) and 'The Dealer' (feat ERNEST) are exactly what I’m digging in country music at the minute.

'Number 3 and Number 7' (with Eric Church) satisfies the clever lyricism we know they both excel at, while 'What I Want' (feat Tate McRae) isn’t what I thought we’d get from Wallen’s first female collaboration, but I’m not mad about it.

We already knew 'I Ain’t Comin’ Back' (feat Post Malone) was a true tune, but it sits so well on this album. As for the rest of it, I’ll just say this for now – get me into an arena, hand me a beer and watch me shout "me, myself and I / these ramblin’ ways won’t ever die" until I lose my voice.

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For more on Morgan Wallen, see below: