First Listen: Morgan Wallen Ushers in a New Era with ‘Love Somebody’

After months of teasers, snippets, and fake release date rumours, the day that Morgan Wallen fans have been keenly waiting for has finally - finally - arrived. ‘Love Somebody’ is out!

The Sneedville megastar first shared a clip of the breezy, rhythmic offering back in May, with Morgan accompanying the video with the playful caption, “I feel like this one's gonna sound good on the boat”. A few listeners have pointed out that it's now October, and boating season has ended - but we agree with his sentiment nonetheless.

It's a summery and highly Latin-influenced track that finds Morgan Wallen exploring a sound he's never really delved into before. The official press release for ’Love Somebody’ bills the track as “the first taste of his upcoming project”, which makes us think Morgan's new album will lean towards this genre-blending blueprint.

Having said this, virtually all of new tracks Morgan Wallen has been teasing - aside from the hazy, synth-driven ‘Come Back as a Redneck’ - are stripped-back offerings that feel closer to ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ than the pop-leaning ambience of ‘Love Somebody’.

As a result, it seems like we can look forward to another refreshingly variegated and eclectic project in the mould of One Thing At A Time, which showcased Morgan's dizzying cornucopia of musical influences, spanning classic country, trap, indie-rock and more.

Throughout all the experimentation and sonic shape-shifting, Morgan Wallen's unmistakable drawl ensures his country roots always bleed into the fabric of his new releases. This is the case with ‘Love Somebody’, and will surely be evident throughout his next studio album, too, offering Morgan the opportunity to fuse an expansive range of styles without ever feeling as though he's abandoned where he came from.

On ’Love Somebody’, for instance, the ‘Last Night’ chart-topper's charismatic, sinuous delivery injects an additional grit and edge to balance the smooth, cushioning instrumental.

When touching on the inspiration behind the new track, Morgan Wallen explained how he was keen to test out a different direction, “‘Love Somebody’ is a little bit of a new approach lyrically and sonically. I wanted to try something different, with what I wanted to talk about, how I wanted it to sound, and we were inspired by Latin-leaning influences. I’m really excited about this song and pumped that it is out”.

The hypnotic, sashaying synth solo towards the end of the track feels as though it could've been taken straight from a Mavericks hit, accentuating the Gulf and Western-friendly tone of ‘Love Somebody’. However, the emotional depth of the track combined with the sincerity of Morgan's vocals ensures it never strays into the frivolous or blithe, sun-soaked territory that can trivialise ‘Beach Country’ tracks.

The danger with ‘Love Somebody’, of course, is that it had been teased and remixed so ubiquitously across TikTok that some fans might've already grown tired of it by the time it officially dropped. However, the full-length, official studio version carries a fresh feel and lucidity that was absent from these snippets, and everything about ‘Love Somebody’ - from the melody to the instrumental to the fact that it's a Morgan Wallen song - screams that this will be another blockbuster hit. Similar fears about the track being over-teased were expressed in the run-up to Post Malone and Morgan's ‘I Had Some Help’, which went on to be crowned Billboard's Song of the Summer and remains one of the biggest hits of the year.

’Love Somebody’ feels on course to become another mainstream smash for Morgan, following in the footsteps of ’Last Night’. Given the fact that the comparatively introspective and less commercially minded ’Lies, Lies, Lies’ still broke into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, ‘Love Somebody’ has a strong shot at hitting the peak.

Perhaps most crucially of all, it ensures the anticipation remains sky-high ahead of what we can only hope is an imminent album announcement, as fans continue to rub their hands with glee at the prospect of another 30-plus tracklist from Morgan Wallen.

Read Holler's full Lyrics & Meaning deep-dive into Morgan Wallen's ‘Love Somebody’ here.

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