INTERVIEW: morgen releases new EP 'Bravado': "Bravado for me is this weird in between place where you're trying to be cool and you think you know who you are, when really you don't."
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: Aaron Schechter
American singer-songwriter morgen may be just 18, but she is already attracting attention and a massive fanbase for her expertly crafted indiepop that authentically chronicles the struggles, uncertainties and trauma of growing up. Her 2021 single ‘Fine By Me’ made it into the Australian top 100 radio charts, while Elton John has played her music on his Apple Music radio show.
First relasing music mid-pandemic in 2021, her music has a foundation in indiepop, but crosses over into multiple genres from rock to pop. Today she releases her second EP BRAVADO, which continues her journey of growing up, inspired by her moving out of her family home and to Los Angeles, entering the next phase of her life as an independent adult.
"BRAVADO to me is about putting up a confident front while internally freaking out…settling into the unknown,” morgen says. “While I was making this project, I was going through the utter chaos and self discovery of becoming an adult."
Featuring six tracks, morgen worked with Jack Laboz, Matias Mora, NASAYA, and The 87's, as well as singer Merci, Mercy on the EP.
‘Lilee’ opens the EP, and is a classic, gorgeously warm guitar indiepop song with hints of 1980s shoe gaze, with morgen singing of a complicated friendship. “But why did you choose to go and friend zone me in mid June? / I know you think we’re good but we’re not now.”
The brand new track on the EP, ‘Second’ is appropriately the second song on the EP and features Australian singer Merci Mercy. It is a bubbly, bright pop song, arguably the most uplifting and joyous song on the EP, with twinkly synths and funky electric guitar.
Most recent single ‘Sick of Me’ is an EP highlight, a rocky track with early 2000s rock-pop vibes, and dark lyrics that details teenage rage and self-loathing. Written while morgen was breaking up with a friend, her vocal perfectly portrays the anger and hurt she feels, with the song in the end becoming a cathartic release for her, saying: “It was a really tense and heated time for me, but luckily I got one of my favorite songs out of it!"
‘Make U Mine’ stays in rockier territory with a healthy chunk of 1980s-style punk added to the mix. It’s a blast of a song, with an addictive beat, distorted vocals and lyrics you can scream with passion at the top of your lungs. Lyrically is is full of regret and longing for the past: “I wanna feel like I felt when we used to pretend as a kid…I wanna listen to music and scream as we drive to forget.”
‘Hammock’ brings the feel back to more pop-rock sounds. With a driving beat, an endlessly fascinating soundscape and some delicious melodies, it tells a melancholic story of struggling to find the words to break up with someone. “Practiced every word I said / You still cried in the end / And I know I should feel bad / But I’m not mad and I’m not sad.”
The EP ends with the first single ‘Mom Jeans’. A bright and bouncy pop song, with twirling sonics and a hint of country and rap it is an empowering song that emphasises morgen’s right to wear whatever she wants without being judged. “I don't feel like me in a miniskirt / But in my blue mom jeans I'm the king of the world…Stop telling me what I should wear!” It is a liberating and beautiful way to end the EP.
BRAVADO is a EP to hold close. Its stories of youth, growing up, the complication of love and relationships is incredibly relatable and as a result forge an instant connection between you and morgen. Sonically, it is a beautiful journey with sounds for every mood, proving morgen’s versatility as an artist.
A really special artist, morgen is a confident and assured creator and at just 18, she is sure to get better and better in the coming years. We recently sat down with her to find out more about the creation of the EP.
Hello morgen. You are absolutely dynamite and you make beautiful music. How are things with you?
Thank you. You're so sweet. Things are good, things are really good. I'm really happy. I moved to LA like a year ago, which is crazy, but I feel like I'm finally settling in here. I've just been busy, I have shows coming up that I'm preparing for and the EP release which is very exciting. And writing a lot of music right now, producing a lot. It's been really fun.
Your new EP BRAVADO is just such an eclectic mix, however you've managed to collate a selection that really feels like that very delicate precipice between adolescence and young adult. It's really, really beautifully done. So many people think you just jump from adolescence to young adult but really, young adult is just an extension of adolescence with more privileges. Tell me about it, because it's gorgeous.
Thank you. You know, BRAVADO is a really funny little situation. Over the past year I've been putting these songs together and it's funny how they all came together. The whole point of BRAVADO was this false narrative of when you're 18, 19, a young adult, you're kind of just trying to figure out who you are, but you're kind of like ‘I know everything’. I'm not gonna lie, I have this very false confidence about me. I'm a very confident person. it's not always false. That's what bravado is about for me, it's this weird in between place where you're trying to be cool, you're like, ‘I know who I am’, when really you don't. That's where bravado is sitting for me right now and where it was when I wrote it. It was kind of like ‘I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm acting like I do, I don't care what people think, [but] I definitely do.’
I think that's incredible. When I was at that age, I remember we were all just completely faking it, and we were encouraged to fake it. On television we had 30 year olds playing 15 year olds, and with music it was for young people but really it was sung by very much older adults. What you're doing by owning it is incredibly powerful, not just for listeners it but also for other artists to be able to own that and go, ‘I think this is alright, I don't know what I'm doing.’ Fake it till I make it can only last so long really can’t it?
Yeah, there's a level of faking it till you make it you're gonna have throughout your whole life. It's this thing where you think when you turn 18, or when you turn 21, or any other milestone, you're gonna somehow gain this huge amount of confidence and that just doesn't happen. I thought it was gonna happen, and I realised it wasn't when I turned 18 and I was like ‘II'm living alone now, and I'm freaking out’. It was this really interesting place because I was like, now I'm an adult, I guess I have to act like one. Not that I hadn't before, because I've always leant towards an adult demeanour. But somehow deep down underneath everything, you still believe that you’re gonna be so cool when you turn 18. And then you turn 18, and you're like, ‘I know nothing, I'm still like 13.’ I struggled to grasp the idea of what being an adult means at all, every day, and going through these young adult times are just so funny, because nobody knows what's going on. Even my friends who are 35! Being a young adult, but also just being a person, it's so ridiculous because I'm constantly struggling to be confident, even though I am a confident person. I still struggle.
I agree, we're sold on this notion that ‘don't worry, you'll magically turn a certain age and then you'll figure it out’. It's much like the New Year thing as soon as the clock goes past midnight you have to shame yourself for everything you did in December and create a new self in January.
It's ridiculous. It's hilarious, because it's so just not how it works. With New Year's, a lot of times things happen towards the end of the year, sometimes things wrap up, sometimes relationships and things fall apart. And then you do have to pick yourself back up again towards the New Year, these things kind of just happen. But it's just such a funny notion that we as humans have decided that every single new year we're gonna change. It’s ridiculous how you are expected to become a completely different person in under 24 hours. Why do we put this pressure on ourselves as people to exist in a completely different reality overnight? Like, no!
‘Sick of Me’, your latest single, I'm getting very late 90s, early 2000s clubs that I used to go to vibes from and it's fantastic. It's such a great song because it's about the breakup of friends. Can you break down that song a little bit for me, because I think it's incredible.
It's so interesting, because I started writing the song about me. It was originally gonna be ‘oh I'm so sick of me as a person’ blah, blah, blah. Then I started writing it, and I was going through this friendship breakup throughout the whole EP. BRAVADO was written around the time I was breaking up with my best friend, which was awful. It wasn't even a breakup, it was more of a ghosting over text situation. I hate this generation, it's ridiculous how we end things when we are passive aggressive and awful. It's terrible. ‘Sick of Me’ is so interesting, because I started writing it about me and then I ended up writing it about how I react to situations and how I reacted to breaking up with my friend. The lyrics basically say everything! It was just a really crazy time, and I was so tired of the way that I was handling things and how I handled the situation. I was just so exhausted by the way I reacted, and how I let her affect me so much. It was awful, it was really terrible. I was so tired of being jealous and so tired of having these emotions like ‘I know she's not thinking about me, and I know she's not giving me the same energy that I'm giving her right now, so why am I doing this to myself?’ But such is the human nature, you know what I mean? It sucks, but you work through it, and I'm a better person because of it, I guess! At least I know that I have these traits in my being and I can address them. That whole song was just me being fed up with me.
You also got a really kick ass song out of it, so you know, silver linings!
True, I got a few!
You got an EP out of it!
I did! ‘Make U Mine’ was about the same girl. You know, we live we laugh, we learn, we love. It's great. It's a good time.
You're honestly resonating with people and that's so important. You refer to it as a breakup, and we don't do that enough. It hurts so much more with a friendship. With a friend, there's ghosting, there’s distance, it goes on for such a long time. So not only have you addressed it, but you've addressed it so beautifully and I think it's really important for people to sing to. You're making music that people really really need to hear whether it's about their baby blue mom jeans or breaking up with their best mate, or feeling unrequited love. Tell me, apart from BRAVADO, what else is coming up for you?
Oh my god. The EP release, lots more shows after that, and then lots of new music. I'm really excited for this stuff that I'm going to write and create after this EP. There's so much stuff that's happening already right now that I'm really excited for. So that's what's happening!
BRAVADO is out now via Sony Music Australia. You can buy on iTunes and stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
To keep up with all things morgen you can follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
