Morgan Wade 'Acoustic Sessions' EP Review

After making a stunning debut with Reckless and touring with Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton, quickly rising country music newcomer Morgan Wade is pleasing audiences with the release of her project titled, Acoustic Sessions: a five-song EP that reimagines known tracks while introducing new ones. While tackling a new style, Wade proves she can get more emotional and bare with just her vocals, guitar, and unshakeable storytelling.

“Kelley’s Drive,” a new track featured on the EP, has emotional, deeply specific lyrics taking listeners into a whirlwind of special memories. Despite the simple chord progression, what shines here the most is Wade’s visceral songwriting; she is yearning for past times and a relationship that didn’t end with closure. Towards the end of the song, in the last mounting chorus, Wade’s voice goes up in pitch as she yells out, “My last moment / Break down and cry / And I know you say that / We are friends / But it does not feel like we made amends.” There are a few more lines before the piercing moment when she exclaims through heartwrenching vocals, “I’ll always have a place for you / Yeah I’ll always be in love with you.”

Entry number two, “Last Cigarette,” one of the highlights from Wade’s debut LP Reckless is presented alongside a stripped-down instrumental with soft percussion and a candid vocal display. The other familiar song is the catchy lead single “Wilder Days.” While the original feels fleeting and fast-paced, the fresh version is rustic and bittersweet; it has an added tick of emotional flare as she sings about wanting to know someone during a different time of their life.

“Crossing State Lines” continues the themes found in “Kelly’s Drive:” unrequited love and the feeling of pining for a relationship that isn’t good for oneself. In this never-before-heard song that climbs past the four-minute mark, Wade is hung up on someone who most likely isn’t thinking about her. With most lyricism, there are a few lines that seem to stand out and hit the hardest. In “Crossing State Lines,” every word of every verse continues the same devastation as the last. Wade wails with somber desperation, “Well you came so late / But you left so fast / Well you could’ve been my future / And now my past / I’m just some memory that with each and every day will fade / Bet you forgot me by the time your car hit the interstate.”

The closer, “Flower,” is an ode to someone who passed away. The intense storytelling is raw and real. Anyone who has lost a loved one or a friend can find relatability between the lines. In the descriptive second verse, Wade croons, “I miss busting through your kitchen door / I won’t lie, I know I shoulda’ went to church with you more / I’m in a place I never thought I’d be / Most nights I wonder if you’d be proud of me.”

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