About Wilder Days

Morgan Wade's debut single "Wilder Days" leaves you a special kind of breathless. There's an urgency to the rock-inspired love song that's rare on Top 40 country radio. This newcomer proves that you don't need to sacrifice depth to get a great hook and strong melody. A dozen comparisons come to mind as you play "Wilder Days" on repeat, and all of them (a hardened Sheryl Crow, perhaps) are generational artists. There's an immediate longing to scream, "you said you hate the smell of cigarette smoke" in front of some moonlit festival stage soon, but it's in pondering the remainder of the chorus and each verse that Wade (and co-writer Sadler Vaden) gets you. The song is complex, with chords and a melancholy shuffle that shouts heartbreak, even if her story is at worst hesitant and thoughtful.

"And who were you before I knew your name / Were you drunk at midnight waiting for the train / You could have been anyone back then / Just another kid reaching for the wind," she sings during a second verse that, thankfully, wasn't shortened, as is popular in 2021. As producer, Vaden proves as essential to Wade as Jay Joyce is to Eric Church. It's possible the singer's broken-in, made-for-Yellowstone voice would identify her in any mix, but this song — and others on her Reckless album — proves the edges of art are still worth seeking.