Maren Morris - "Humble Quest"

[.indulgecountry]

Maren's third album, Humble Quest, is out now:

[.indulgecountry]

[fearlessarrow]

I actually kind of liked the more subdued-ness of this record even though there were a couple of songs that didn't really grab me in any way. I also liked that she was trying new directions with "Nervous" (she had stuff like "All My Favorite People" but this one is very rock-leaning) and even "I Can't Love You Anymore" which sounds more honky-tonk than anything she's ever done. "What Would This World Do?" is a gorgeous tribute to busbee and I love that she closed the album with that.

In terms of singles, I'm not sure if I see an obvious smash outside of "Circles Around This Town". "I Can't Love You Anymore" sounds like the next best bet. But outside of that... I'm not sure. "Detour" was one of my personal favorites from the first listen so I'm biased towards that; it reminds me of "I Could Use a Love Song" which is why I think it has a chance of working as a single. "Nervous" might be a little "loud" and potentially polarizing. Maybe the title track? 

[recordyear]

You can say last Friday was a stacked release day, but no songs from this album are on US Spotify top 200, even though she is on the top of Hot Country playlist with her lead single.
Also, this peaked at #20 on US Apple Music album chart. Most country albums with good streaming peak around top 10 at release day.

[tim]

Mar 26, 2022 20:51:04 GMT -5 fearlessarrow said:

I actually kind of liked the more subdued-ness of this record even though there were a couple of songs that didn't really grab me in any way.

Based on the early comments I saw here on Pulse, I went into this album thinking I too would likely be disappointed. Much to my surprise, however, I actually really liked it which is mostly due to the subdued production you mentioned. I do agree that nothing instantly grabbed me as a hit, though. There are a few songs that I keep coming back around to including the title track, "Detour", "Nervous", and even "Good Friends" which just kinda clicked with me. The one song that stands out like a sore thumb to me is "Tall Guys" which just doesn't sound like it belongs.

[austin]

After sitting with this, I still find it really boring as an overall project, and its really missing some tempo.

I know most people hate "Tall Guys" but the production there really reminds me of The Chicks' "Tights on my Boat" and I really enjoy that one.

[christianlarson9]

Debuts with an 81 on Metacritic becoming Maren's most acclaimed project to date ("Hero" didn't get a score on Metacritic, but it was likely in the same range score wise as HQ).

This project is definitely growing on me a lot and after seeing videos of some tracks being performed live, I think it really helped me click with the album overall. Really hoping that "Detour" is the next single!

[3chords]

I didn’t realize Girl had that low of a score. Seems unnecessary to give an album a 40 but the Guardian is super brutal 💀. I’m curious to see if more reviews roll in for HQ, seems to be missing Paste and Stereogum, etc. I’m assuming they’d all be between 70-80 so it should be stay a pretty decent score.

[.indulgecountry]

The more I listen to this record, the more it grows on me. It's definitely a solid enough listen, but as others have stated, I do wish there were more of her signature uptempo jams on here, because those are really missing. She does the introspective ballad type songs well and has plenty of them scattered across her first two projects, but they were off-set by the big upbeat jams like "Rich," "Sugar," "All My Favorite People," "Flavor," etc. "Circles" is a great addition to that lineup, but I would've liked to have gotten another 2-3 songs in that vein on this record instead of it being so heavy on the downtempo moments.

It's also been mentioned that there isn't a lot of obvious radio hits on here, but she had exactly that last era and only wound up with 2 because she released "To Hell & Back" and completely torpedoed the era. In other words, she'll probably manage fine at country radio because there's at least one or two more hits on the record to be had. "I Can't Love You Anymore" strikes me as the best option for single #2 personally.

[zdm1998]

Humble Quest is predicted to open at 19 on the 200 chart and 2 on the country albums chart, with about 21,000 units. This will be her first album to not debut in the top 10, and only barely making it to the top 20.

[3chords]

Interesting, I just saw the Hits chart, I’m surprised she didn’t get more streaming... The debuts seem low across the board, like Buble usually does way better than where he landed also. Will be interesting to see Thomas and Jason next.

[3chords]

Mar 29, 2022 17:23:25 GMT -5 3chords said:

Interesting, I just saw the Hits chart, I’m surprised she didn’t get more streaming... The debuts seem low across the board, like Buble usually does way better than where he landed also. Will be interesting to see Thomas and Jason next.

Just saw Buble had a ticket and album bundle with his last release so that explains his massive drop so never mind. Sorry for the double up.

[Typo]

I just don’t think she’s all that well-known outside of the Nashville country industry. I’m not sure if most people could tell you who performed “The Middle” and “The Bones,” so I’m not surprised by the weak numbers.

[Deleted]

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Oh yes, it's Maren's best album so far! If she had done an album full of upbeat music, no one would think twice about it, ah, but no. She releases an album that is leaning towards midtempo or slow, and everybody loses their minds. I find that slow songs or ballads are superior to fast music, so this album is hitting the right spots. There is a song I don't really care for much, but since I have been playing in shuffle, I am not sure which one it is lol She had guts to release this, as most artists would never do such a slow album, but I'm glad Maren did it. I have liked her a good deal before (expect her two most horrible songs GIRL and The Bones) but with Humble Quest, I might become a fan.

[zdm1998]

Poised to debut at #23 on the hot 200 chart. A little bummed it ended up missing the top 20 as well. Really makes me curious where Miranda will be at next month when her album releases, as her and Maren had similar opening weeks with their previous projects. 

[3chords]

Honestly as long as the artist is happy with the project they put out I hope they can find peace with that. I know Maren is obviously newer and probably still cares for validation, but if you look at Miranda releasing Marfa on vinyl and Annies stuff I think she’s past caring about the business of charts. I think the most surprising to me recently was Thomas’ 2021 release only shifting 14k pure since he seems so popular on socials. It’s a weird time 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Crimsonio]

Apr 2, 2022 8:07:58 GMT -5 zdm1998 said:

Poised to debut at #23 on the hot 200 chart. A little bummed it ended up missing the top 20 as well. Really makes me curious where Miranda will be at next month when her album releases, as her and Maren had similar opening weeks with their previous projects. 

This is a major flop for Maren, I mean I know the Country chart has been taken over by Morgan for the past year, but still. It's surprising that she can't even debut Top 10 when artists like Charli XCX are getting their first Top 10 debuts, Maren is going in the complete opposite direction for this era. This was supposed to be the era to build on the HUGE success of The Bones, and yet, I feel like Maren took many steps back, which is sad because I do really like her!

[recordyear]

Apr 2, 2022 15:13:31 GMT -5 Crimsonio said:

It's surprising that she can't even debut Top 10 when artists like Charli XCX are getting their first Top 10 debuts, Maren is going in the complete opposite direction for this era.

Not that surprising because the artists that get first Top 10 debuts this year are boosted by vinyl sales from stans. Maren Morris doesn't have many. She is not even that popular on Twitter in which stan activities are highest. Instead, she has always been pushed hard by the industry and the certain echo chamber (if you are in country Twitter, you will know), which doesn't always translate to sales/streaming.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Yep... really disappointing numbers for Maren :(

I wasn't really expecting a #01 on the Country Albums chart... only 6 artists have managed that in the past 20 months, so I knew it would be hard for her, but not even a Top 20 debut on the Billboard 200?

I don't dislike the album though... hopefully it will grow on people overtime and have nice legs

[recordyear]

Billboard's numbers are 11k pure sales and 22k SPS (14 million streams). #2 country and #21 overall.

[Kanenrá:ke]

It’s grown on me a lot already, I expected a few more obvious singles, mostly because I expected the label to want some but I’m glad they let her do this quieter album.

I don’t think any track here would make my top 5 of her discography or anything but there’s no duds.

“I Can’t Love You Anymore” has to be the second single imo

[austin]

Apr 5, 2022 8:39:27 GMT -5 Kanenrá:ke said:

“I Can’t Love You Anymore” has to be the second single imo

100%, there legit is no other choice they can make. “Detour” can close it out as the final single and then she can deliver some tempo with MM4.

[someguy]

I was initially disappointed by this album, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it. "Circles Around This Town" was the perfect choice for the lead single. But after that, "I Can't Love You Anymore" probably makes the most sense, though "Good Friends" could possibly be a surprise hit. "Nervous" is a really good song too, and I wouldn't be opposed to see that get a release as well.

[Deleted]

Apr 9, 2022 23:26:58 GMT -5 someguy said:

"Nervous" is a really good song too, and I wouldn't be opposed to see that get a release as well.

Yeah! If Sam Hunt took Break Up In a Small Town to number 2, I want to hope Maren could do something similar with Nervous!

[christianlarson9]

Although HQ was a pretty big underperformance for Maren commercially, I think it was the right album to put out even if a lot of us aren't the biggest fans of the project.

GIRL wasn't really a fan among critics like HERO was, but HQ is helping her rebound in that area. "Circles Around This Town" is on track to be her second biggest solo hit in the US and based on how big its debut was, there's still clearly interest in Maren, so I'm not too worried about her going forward.

As for the singles, I would do "I Can't Love You Anymore" next as it's upbeat and is the perfect length for radio. Like someone else said, I would then close out the era with "Detour" which I think can be a pretty decent hit for Maren if it catches on.

That said, I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to push the title track or "Nervous" although I think the latter would likely test poorly with programmers.

[Elusive Chanteuse]

Falls from #21 to #101 on Billboard 200 this week. Yikes.

In comparison, both Hero and GIRL dropped gently in their second weeks and stayed stable on the chart (Hero lasted 80 weeks while GIRL stayed on for 90).

Significant underperformance, but hopefully, that doesn't discourage Columbia and Maren from continuing to promote this project and go three singles deep.

[recordyear]

Already out of top 200 in Billboard 200 chart. Last week was #156. 3 weeks on chart.

[christianlarson9]

Rolling Stone released their list of the “Best Songs of 2022 So Far” today & “The Furthest Thing” is one of 2 country songs on the list (the other being “Everything She Ain’t” by Hailey Whitters)

Article: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-best-songs-of-2022-so-far-1361379/