The stars seemed to align for Virginia country artist Morgan Wade when she released her second studio album, Psychopath , in August 2023. Combining the glamorous swagger of Kacey Musgraves with the folk-pop vulnerability of Boygenius , she looked the complete package – an alt-country talent destined for imminent stardom. But that big future never arrived, despite the presence on the LP of respected producer Sadler Vaden, longtime sideman to alt-country lodestar Jason Isbell, and Liz Rose, Taylor Swift’s co-writer back in her “You Belong With Me” era.
Overlooked and underappreciated, Wade would lament to Rolling Stone that “my record wasn’t talked about and that really messed with me”. She went to a dark place, her state of mind not helped by a demanding tour regime. In those bleak moments, her only means of expression was songwriting.
That pain has materialised as the grippingly frank and thrillingly unadorned Obsessed . Read Next The Script's comeback is heartfelt - and melodramatic The album lacks the big corporate gloss of Psychopath , but the grittier framing gives her material room to breathe and showcases her taut, expressive voice. In a departure from previous projects, Wade wrote all the songs herself, often after shows.
Forged amid a combination of jetlag and loneliness, it pulsates with hallucinatory imagery and wee-hours anxiety. “I’m tired out here on the road/I’ve spent too many nights on my own,” she complains on unvarnished opener “Total.