Kevin Morby's eighth album, Little Wide Open, opens with a track called Badlands. The title evokes the unforgiving terrain of the American Midwest and carries heavy pop cultural references: Terrence Malick's bleak 1973 neo-noir film based on Charles Starkweather's spree killings, and Bruce Springsteen's ferocious 1978 song about a frustrated blue-collar worker. The listener might expect a stark portrait of America, but Badlands defies expectations. Driven by big, punchy drums, the music is strangely laid-back with clean guitar riffs, conversational vocals, and sweet harmonies. Lyrics speak of 'the big disaster we call home' yet also suggest 'heaven is a place on Earth beneath the golden sky.' Morby concludes with a shrug: 'I can't tell if I'm in heaven or the badlands.'
An Album of Uncertainties
This sets the tone for an album that revels in grey areas. Morby captures the push and pull of one's hometown—comforting familiarity and nostalgia ('home smells like cinnamon and the sad passing of time') versus the sense of not fitting in. On Cowtown, a bluesy acoustic lick disrupts the austere sound for emphasis. Equivocation seeps into everything. On Natural Disaster, Morby questions whether his mood swings require medication, meditation, or are just natural occurrences like landslides or hurricanes that fuel his songwriting. Die Young looks back on youthful hedonism with a shudder ('thank God we didn't die young') yet fondly recounts touring scrapes.
Musical Style and Collaborators
Musically, Morby deals in introspection and understatement. His foundation remains well-crafted Americana drawing on Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Tom Petty, and Leonard Cohen. Little Wide Open features a stellar supporting cast: Aaron Dessner of The National, who asked to work with Morby and shared his music with everyone he's worked with; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver imitating a tornado siren; alt-country star Lucinda Williams delivering a monologue inspired by Springsteen's spoken-word on Lou Reed's Street Hassle; plus members of Muna, Sylvan Esso, Florence + the Machine, and Perfume Genius. Their contributions return Morby to the bedrock of his sound.
The album offers subtle pleasures: the lovely melancholy of the title track's chorus, the banjo-assisted closer Field Guide for the Butterflies building from fragility to toughness, and the beautiful piano and clarinet motif in Junebug. Songs take their time to unspool—the title track and Natural Disaster both exceed seven minutes. This music eschews flash, encouraging listeners to sit with it, fitting its lyrical uncertainties and sense of someone working out feelings in real time.
Themes of Vulnerability
Morby calls Little Wide Open his most personal and vulnerable album. At 38, on the cusp of fatherhood with partner Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee, he grapples with doubts: 'Am I a has-been?' wonders Javelin. 'Am I a husband?' Yet the emotional tone feels universal—a safe space for admitting uncertainty in a climate that tends to extremes.
