William Michael Morgan - "Tonight Girl"

[recordyear]

Artist: William Michael Morgan
Single: Tonight Girl
Album: TBA
Label: Warner Bros. Nashville
Impact Date: TBA
Writers: Austin Cunningham, Jason Sellers, Jon Mabe
===
Out at midnight. Safe to say it will impact radio in the future.



Social media teasers:

[zaclord 🌈]

Yessssssss! So excited for this! WMM's debut was so solid. So sad "Vinyl" didn't smash though... still very much firmly in the camp that it should have been the second single

[sabre14]

They’re actually not 100% sure if this will be the next terrestrial radio single. They’re seeing what the reaction will be after it’s released.

[rsmatto]

Oct 11, 2018 18:58:40 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

They’re actually not 100% sure if this will be the next terrestrial radio single. They’re seeing what the reaction will be after it’s released.

There’s a private industry event next week where he will showcase this and more.

[sabre14]

Oct 11, 2018 20:33:09 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Oct 11, 2018 18:58:40 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

They’re actually not 100% sure if this will be the next terrestrial radio single. They’re seeing what the reaction will be after it’s released.

There’s a private industry event next week where he will showcase this and more.

I may or may not have already heard the songs. :)

[winstonmurdock]

It's awful. Who in the hell is guiding WMM. This will do nothing and further sink his career. This is Easton Corbin Part II. Can we not get this guy some good songs?

[LBTrocks]

Says it's not available in my country?! Like what!!?!?!?

I LOVE William Michael Morgan and can't wait to hear this.

[countrymusicjunkie]

Oct 11, 2018 23:12:46 GMT -5 winstonmurdock said:

It's awful. Who in the hell is guiding WMM. This will do nothing and further sink his career. This is Easton Corbin Part II. Can we not get this guy some good songs?

You're right, this is awful. I really liked his last album and all of the singles released but this just has a completely different sound. 

[justin5545]

Not good! I get that they are trying to save his career and all but really.

[kw9461]

This is....okay. I need to hear it a few more times to get a better feel for it, but on first listen it didn't blow me away. The melody isn't bad, and WMM's vocals are on point as always, but the production doesn't do it for me. If it gets him a hit I guess I'll just be thrilled to get another album from him, but i'm not sure it stands out enough or is catchy enough to accomplish that. I would rank all but maybe 1 or 2 songs from his debut above this.

[LBTrocks]

I like it! He can, and has, done SO much better though. Hmm. He sound fantastic. The melody is really good... I think it'll be a grower for a lot of people.

[bigfan101]

So i actually like this....i think it combines what it is current and his country voice. I’ll be alone in the enjoying it side haha

[phil1996]

Don’t fall for the trap WMM. Don’t do it man please..

This is OK. Nothing close to what was on his debut

[CoJoFan]

Here’s hoping this is just a one off bad single choice! “Vinyl” was kinda like Rascal Flatts “Back To Us”. The hit that should’ve been but wasn’t. This guy should’ve had 3 #1 hits under his belt with all 3 of his singles from his debut album. Like I said though here’s hoping he’s not becoming a pop country singer!

[countryisking]

This is definitely more modern than his debut album but I didn't listen to this and get as dire a feeling as some of you are. Honestly this could pretty easily fit into his debut album and it wouldn't be too out-of-place.

Not sure what the fan support is like for WMM but I would be skeptical that this breaks him out. When I saw him live, he did REALLY old country so I also doubt he strays too far into the modern realm.

[fearlessarrow]

I get what this song is going for, and based on that I should like this song more, but somehow I don't. Maybe it's because I'm used to hearing a neotraditional sound from him that this song feels a bit off, but something feels off about this song. I don't dislike it, but it does lack the charm that songs from his debut album had. I feel like this song could've been done by people like Thomas Rhett tbh.

[tonyei31]

Soul root sounding country is the hot style right now. It's obvious that is what WMM was going for. Unfortunately, stylistically, this doesn't fit his voice. Just like Chris Stapleton doesn't fit into the Ed Sheeran sounding pop, Bruno Mars doesn't twang through a country song, WMM doesn't fit into the soul-rooted sound. Many artists can go from one genre to the next, but the distinctive sound of WMM is difficult. Hard pass for me, unfortunately.

[collinkottke]

I like this. Sure, it didn't blow me away, but it's a nice song. Plus, I don't think it's that far away from a traditional country sound and I find it perfectly acceptable to hear him singing it.

[.indulgecountry]

I don't mind the song once it gets going but that intro music is awful. It sounds like something that you'd hear backing a Disney ballet scene. Once it gets less obvious later in the song, I can tolerate it, because WMM sounds great here as usual and the rest of the song isn't bad. Doesn't hold a candle to his first 3 singles though, as it seems most would agree.

I'm not surprised they tried to modernize his sound a little for this release. People on Pulse can complain about him selling out or whatever, but at the end of the day he had 1 hit single that felt like a fluke at the time ("I Met a Girl" making it all the way up to #2 after a loooong chart climb and looking like it would peak in the teens for awhile), and it was followed up by a single that radio gave a fair chance to ("Missing" making Top 30 despite no love from the general public), and then his last single totally bombed and didn't even chart ("Vinyl"). On top of all that, his album didn't really sell that much either. So, WMM is really in no position to just keep doing what he was doing with his first record without label interference, because he just doesn't have the leverage to do that. Switching it up a little like with "Tonight Girl" might not work either, but his debut album did not break him out and based on how his last two singles performed, he's in a real 'make or break' position now.

Personally, I enjoy his voice a lot and loved his debut record, but I definitely felt like "I Met a Girl" was more of a fluke hit and not a sign of a future star in country music. I'm leaning towards him never having a major hit again, honestly.

[recordyear]

Brokenhearted will be released tomorrow. Writers are J.T. Harding, Marv Green and Rhett Akins.

[justin5545]

"Brokenhearted" is definitely better than this

[kw9461]

Brokenhearted is great. Stone cold country but I don't find it dated sounding at all. Wouldn't mind seeing that as the single at all.

Tonight Girl has grown on me slightly, mostly because WMM's voice is just so damn good. I've also realized how similar the chorus melody is to Easton Corbin's "Clockwork".

[Fanofctrymusic]

[recordyear]

Talking to A Girl is released today.

[Troublemaker]

What are the chances we get an album anytime soon cause I doubt radio will play any of these in high rotation

[gonecountry]

Brokenhearted is great and reminds me a bit of Missing (RIP). Talking to a Girl is pretty damn good too. Tonight Girl is growing on me. A just God would make this guy hit big.

[Deleted]

I am liking all these new songs, so you won't hear me complain about them. Still, Missing is better than all these lol

[recordyear]

Gone Enough is released today.
Writers: Jon Nite, Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally
Producers: Jimmy Ritchey, Scott Hendricks


There should be one more song that will be released this year.

"We have some of it out so far," Morgan told PopCulture.com. "Before the end of the year we plan on releasing all of it, which is a total of five songs – half of a record. Early 2019 our plans are to go back in, go back into the studio, and finish writing, finish finding songs, go back in and cut the rest of the record, and find a single to service to radio."

popculture.com/country-music/2018/11/27/william-michael-morgan-happier-ever-ahead-sophomore-album/?fbclid=IwAR1jSJEYbXzDcagEvxUcaIhmFadlxc5pRhWuK7eUfrGutwbyLULEQ3pjo1s

[kw9461]

Interesting song, not necessarily what I would expect from him, but he does it well. Not sure it's my favorite of the new material, but I like to see him showing versatility. The melody reminds me so much of Brandy Clark's "The Girl Next Door".

[recordyear]

Workin' was released last Friday.