Sept. 15 (UPI) — Maren Morris is back with new music.
The 33-year-old singer released the EP The Bridge and music videos for the songs “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here” on Friday.
In The Bridge, Morris is ready for her next chapter after clashing with right-wing elements of the country music industry.
“These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing toward the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” she said in a statement.
“Honoring where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved in country music, but also freely moving forward.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Morris explained she’s leaving the world of country music because of its perceived unwillingness to confront its history of racism and misogyny.
“I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over,” she said. “But it’s burning itself down without myself.”
“The Tree” video shows Morris walk through an abandoned small town before burning the tree at the town’s heart.
“I wrote this on the 10-year anniversary of my moving to Nashville. It’s about a toxic ‘family tree’ burning itself to the ground. Halfway through, I realize it’s burning itself down without any of my help,” the singer said.
“This song evokes the pain of exhausting all your love and time for this person or ‘entity’ but realizing it’s just a draining, transactional relationship that isn’t nourishing in any healthy way.
“By the end of the song, I give myself permission to face the sun, plant new seeds where it’s safer to grow and realize that sometimes there is greener grass elsewhere.”
The “Get the Hell Out of Here” video shows the scene after the fire.
“This is the aftermath of the tree burning. Being quite literally burned out, this is a story of me feeling pulled in every direction, needing everyone else’s understanding and acceptance but my own and how self-destructive that ultimately became,” Morris said.
“I relinquish control of trying to change everyone’s mind or bad faith behavior and focus on my own power going forward. Doing the right thing can feel lonely at times, but there are more friends than foes, so I finally quit making myself one of them.”
The Bridge is Morris’ first release since her album, Humble Quest, in March 2022.
