It’s been about six months since Maren Morris and her husband, Ryan Hurd, welcomed baby boy Hayes in March. Now, the singer says she’s beginning to write songs again, and she’s been working on expanding her circle of co-writers.
“I’m trying to mix it up and not always use my same, like, four friends that I’m really comfortable with,” Morris explains to Taste of Country Nights. “I wrote with Julia Michaels last week, and my husband, Ryan, and we got a really, really cool song that I’m excited about.”
In addition to Michaels’ career as a pop performer, she’s an in-demand songwriter who has penned tracks for Justin Bieber, Gwen Stefani and many more. Her work with Morris isn’t the first time Michaels has dabbled in the country genre, either: She previously collaborated with Jordan Davis and Keith Urban.
“Everyone knows she’s amazing because she’s written so many huge hits. But that was our first time writing,” Morris adds.
And while the “Girl” superstar said that she walked out of her songwriting session with Michaels feeling that “the sound [was] starting to form” for her next musical chapter, she’s in no rush to draw up official plans for her next album — especially in the midst of a pandemic and new motherhood.
“I think, in COVID, it’s like, ‘I’m gonna write when I can.’ And now I have this baby, and I’ve got to take care of him,” the country star goes on to say, “But I’m trying to find these spurts of creativity while also being, like, a responsible adult and parent and, you know, give all of that to my kid.”
While the pandemic has posed challenges and uncertainties for every artist, Morris say she’s hoping to use the downtime to experiment and hopefully find the voice of her next project.
“I’m still in the incubation phase, where I’m just figuring out what I wanna say and how I wanna say it and what it’s gonna sound like. So I’m excited,” she adds.
