T. Hardy Morris has some advice for young artists, young lovers and former selves: “Don’t waste your time worrying about what others think—and definitely don’t kill your time by giving up.”
That’s the gist of the Athens, Ga., singer/songwriter’s bracing new single, which can be found on Artificial Tears, available August 8 via New West’s Normaltown imprint. While the unchecked dreaminess of 2021’s Digital Age Of Rome was fed mostly by melancholy and despair, Morris’ latest music revels in a ramshackle sort of giddy defiance, even when it’s seeking comfort in the occasional nostalgia trip.
Artificial Tears was produced and mixed by My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel, who also played most of the instruments. The process began and ended at Broemel’s Nashville home, with an aborted trip to the studio in between. By and large, the album retains the grit of the original four-track recordings.
Earning early accolades in the 2000s with hard-touring, grunge-tinged Southern rockers Dead Confederate, Morris is also a founding member of the indie-rock supergroup Diamond Rugs with Deer Tick’s John McCauley and Robbie Crowell, Black Lips’ Ian Saint Pe, Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin and Six Finger Satellite’s Bryan Dufresne. He’s logged a lot of hard miles along the way—and he acknowledges as much.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is a young people’s game, and that’s what I love about it,” says Morris. “I love discovering young artists and hearing what they’re creating as they’re discovering themselves. That’s the best music to me.”
We’re proud to premiere T. Hardy Morris’ “Don’t Kill Your Time (To Shine).”
—Hobart Rowland
