Today marks the massively anticipated release of Am I Okay? — the sophomore album from Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records singer/songwriter Megan Moroney. A monumental step forward for one of Country’s brightest new stars, Am I Okay? doubles down on the thrillingly honest songwriting and powerful impact of her blockbuster debut Lucky. Go here to stream/download Am I Okay? now.
Spotlighting the phenomenal talent that’s earned Moroney over 1.2 BILLION total global streams to date, Am I Okay? has already won acclaim from a host of major outlets, including the print editions of The New York Times (who noted that “Moroney’s brand of truth-telling, equally funny and wounded, has struck a chord”), People and American Songwriter. Also this week, the Georgia-bred artist appeared in feature stories from the likes of Billboard (who praised her “cinematic, story-driven style of songwriting”), CMT, MusicRow, and more.
Referring to Am I Okay? as “Lucky’s cooler older cousin that can drink,” Moroney approached every track on the album with a fearless determination to share even more of her personal story.
“After putting Lucky out and getting to a point where my fans and I know each other so much better, I felt like I could open up and discuss things I’ve never talked about in my music before,” says Moroney. “Sometimes it almost feels like oversharing, but I feel like I have a responsibility to all the people who send me DMs or talk to me at shows and tell me how my songs helped them through a breakup or a bad time in their lives. If I can write about my heartbreak and make someone else feel like there’s a way out, then of course I’m going to keep doing that.”
Produced by Moroney’s frequent collaborator Kristian Bush, Am I Okay? often details the messier aspects of dating and relationships and everything in between. “I wanted to capture what life feels like in your 20s, where one minute you’re sad about an ex and the next you’re just having fun with your friends and couldn’t care less,” she notes. To that end, the album-opening title track offers an up-close look at the pure joy of finding someone new after a bad breakup. A perfect showcase for her one-of-a-kind mix of humor and heart, “Am I Okay?” opens as Moroney gently reflects on her newfound happiness (from the first verse: “I’ve been playing less Black Keys, baby/And my friends swear I’ve gone crazy”). With its driving beat and swooning steel guitar, the song soon builds to a soaring intensity at its goose-bump-inducing, gang-vocal-fueled chorus (“Maybe love ain’t always what it was/Not crying and dying and messing me up/I think I’m really happy/I think I want to stay/Oh my God, am I okay?”).
“I love how from the title you’d assume it’s a heart-wrenching song, especially since I’m the Emo Cowgirl and everyone thinks I’m so sad all the time,” says Moroney, who penned “Am I Okay?” with Luke Laird and Jessie Jo Dillon. “But really it’s about meeting someone new and realizing, ‘Oh my god, I’m not miserable anymore. He’s actually making me happy. Am I okay?’”
Over the course of the album’s 14 powerhouse tracks, Moroney explores the many ways heartache turns our lives upside-down and leads us toward a deeper understanding of ourselves. The first song released from Am I Okay?, the soul-baring slow-burner “No Caller ID” quickly set the record for the biggest Country female song debut in streams in the U.S., racking up 8.4 MILLION global streams in its first week alone. Elsewhere on the album, Moroney stuns with songs like “28th of June” (a heart-melting piano ballad about the pain of honoring a would-be anniversary), “Indifferent” (a larger-than-life celebration of finally getting over your ex), “Man on the Moon” (a fun-loving anthem hailed by Holler as an “out-of-this-world send-off that is sure to soundtrack the summer”), and the recently released “Hell of a Show” (a stripped-back heartbreaker that speaks to one of the more surreal and painful aspects of fame). See below for the full tracklist.
Mainly recorded live with a full band at Nashville’s legendary Blackbird Studio, Am I Okay? features a number of songs built on hard-hitting drums and explosive guitar riffs — an element Moroney introduced with an eye toward her electrifying live show. With three consecutive headline tours now under her belt, she’s currently performing at stadiums across the country as support for Kenny Chesney’s SUN GOES DOWN 2024 TOUR and gearing up to take the stage at Lollapalooza next month. In September, she’ll head overseas for the GEORGIA GIRL TOUR — a 15-date headlining run of the UK and Europe.
When she first set to work on Am I Okay?, Moroney found herself faced with extraordinary pressure to live up to the tremendous promise of Lucky — a widely lauded LP that landed on best-of-the-year lists from the likes of The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Associated Press (who hailed her as a “Gen Z songwriter with Taylor Swift-level acuity”), in addition to delivering smash hits like the 2X PLATINUM, No. 1 breakout single “Tennessee Orange” and chart-rising Country radio single “I’m Not Pretty.” But as she reveals, Moroney soon tapped into the quiet self-assurance that ultimately guided the entire album.
“Going into making this record, I was getting a lot of outside opinions on what my second album should be,” says Moroney. “After a while I realized I just needed to stay true to how I started writing songs when I was 19, and then focus on making music that sonically supports the stories I’m telling. I did my best to block out all that outside noise, and just lead with honesty the whole way through.”
