Morgan Wallen has said goodbye to 2024 with a new single, sharing Smile as a surprise release as the year ends.
Officially released on December 31st in his native America but arriving for us Aussies on January 1st, Smile sees Wallen capping off another big year with the reflective new tune.
Written by Wallen alongside Rocky Block, John Byron, Ernest Keith Smith, Ryan Vojtesak and Luis Witkiewitz, a press release describes the track as a thematic continuation of what we’ve seen on recent tracks such as Lies Lies Lies and Love Somebody.
The track also comes accompanied by a music video directed by Justin Clough. In the clip, Wallen can be seen preparing to take the stage for a televised new year’s performance.
Reflecting the constant reminders and notes big-name artists are constantly receiving, Wallen seems to go a little blank and the producer reminds him to smile when he’s on stage.
Introduced by the host as one of “biggest pop stars in the world”, Wallen walks onto the set with the host promising a performance of Love Somebody. As the lyrics to the song appear on the teleprompter, Wallen goes off-script and begins to sing Smile instead, much to the eventual astonishment of everyone on-ground.
Smile has arrived as the ostensible third single from Wallen’s third studio album, and is his first piece of new music since October’s Love Somebody. However, it’s clearly been in the works for quite some time, with Wallen having previously shared a teaser of the track on social media back in August – just weeks after the release of Lies Lies Lies.
His latest album, One Thing At A Time, arrived back in March 2023 to widespread critical acclaim, giving him his first chart-topper in Australia, and resulting in his second trip to the country as well.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
