Morgan Wallen is pushing back against the release of eight unreleased tracks coming Friday from a former label as part of a “10th anniversary” edition of his Stand Alone EP against his wishes — while also re-recording one new track in hopes fans will support that instead.
There’s “new” Morgan Wallen music coming out this weekend and the country superstar is really, really hoping his fans won’t listen to it.
The “More Than My Hometown” singer took a break from a duck-hunting trip to share that he’d just learned about the release himself and he was definitely not in support of it.
Unfortunately, he said that he signed some deals without legal representation a decade ago, which means he also can’t stop it.
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What he can do, though, is urge his fans not to support this “10th Anniversary” expanded release of his 2015 EP, Stand Alone. “I cringe when I listen to these songs & I’m concerned my fans may mistakenly believe this is a new release by me,” Wallen wrote to his Instagram on Thursday.
“I want you to know this is NOT my new music & I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else,” the “Last Night” singer said of the five-song album’s expanded release with eight additional tracks he considers “terrible.”
He said that former colleagues “I parted ways with 10 years ago” are releasing the new/old music “against my wishes,” with the assistance of his former managers.
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Variety reached out to the head of Panacea Records, William Ray, who said he stands by the release. “We love the songs and believe some of his fans will love it too,” he told the outlet. “We are excited to finally get these songs out to the world.”
According to Wallen, he’s spent the last several months trying to pick up the rights to the music so he could stop the release to “keep the quality of my catalog consistent with songs I choose to release & believe in.”
He explained that of the 13 songs recorded back in 2014, there were only five deemed worthy for the EP release. Now the label has decided to cash in on his subsequent success by releasing all of the tracks, with Wallen unable to stop them due to those contracts.
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“It’s gross, greedy & an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists,” Wallen continued.
He did promise that he would be heading back into the studio to record his actual new album next month. “I’m feeling inspired creatively & super excited to make more music I’m proud of.”
Wallen concluded by saying that in response to the release of old tracks he never wanted to see the light of day against his wishes, he re-recorded one of the tracks from that session, “Spin You Around,” this week and will be dropping it tonight, as well.
He also said that he’s donating $100k from the Morgan Wallen Foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) program to help other young artists avoid giving up creative freedom for an opportunity in music.
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