Words by Brandalynn Nunez
Kailee Morgue is back and with more fire than ever. With the release of her new EP Here In Your Bedroom, Morgue has gifted us with comfort and relatability all into a six song tracklist.
Throughout her career Kailee Morgue has given us something new for every mood: Discovery for the hopeless romantic, Siren and its expression of desire, and most recently Knew You, for the dreamy take on pining and longing.
The Phoenix-based artist took some time with us here at Small Talks to discuss Here In Your Bedroom, her inspirations throughout its creative process, and how she’s grown since the beginning of her career.
I decided to stream your first EP Medusa and HIYB back to back, and I could hear a difference between Medusa’s nostalgic alternative to something more personal now. Do you feel your new music is more you than the beginning?
Of course, I think I had a more ‘go with the flow’ approach in the beginning because I just got signed to a major record label at 18 years old. I was so scared to really be adamant about what I wanted. So this record is me putting my foot down and doing things exactly how I wanted to, and exploring the music I wanted to make from the beginning. Even the lyrics are more unapologetic and honest.
Which song do you think is most personal to you in the sense of ‘putting your foot down?’
This Is Why I’m Hot was definitely the biggest moment of making a statement, especially because it was completely directed at my old manager and anyone on my team that didn’t believe in me. It ironically turned into the song that almost became the single and that people like the most!
And funny enough, This Is Why I’m Hot is my personal favorite off the EP, but it also stands out the most in terms of the overall vibe of the album, was there a reason for that?
Yeah! It took me a long time to form this EP, I was venturing into new sounds a lot and there was a period of me just making lighthearted pop punk songs, and I just knew I wanted to have one on the project. There will definitely be more of that sound in the future.
Now I noticed you have a color aesthetic that is very dreamy and reminiscent of something (not specific, but a general nostalgic sense). The tracklist you posted on [Instagram] made me feel like that’s what you were going for, like hey, I’m the girl crush you write in your diary about. Was the color theme intentional?
My boyfriend and I actually creative directed the entire roll out ourselves and initially, we just knew we wanted there to be neon and cool tones. When we arrived at the set and started shooting we just accidentally landed on this blue/purple hue that we loved and kept using. It was definitely intentional, but not something we thought about before shooting the cover!
I think it really matches the EP itself too. The ‘Knew You’ video really included all of those colors and themes that you mentioned. Did you have a specific story you were going for with that music video, or just an overall feeling?
It was more of a feeling for sure, we wanted to have these soft, glowy sets to contrast my messy hair and more “I don’t care” kind of attitude. We also wanted that unamused mood to translate as a longing, like I’m waiting for someone to show up in the bedroom or the diner.
And that translated in a lot of ways, even in the different angles almost trying to show the pining with the eye contact. Now as for the name of the EP itself, why Here In Your Bedroom?
The original name of the EP was actually “In The Sun”, kind of bringing light to the words and themes I’m talking about on this EP. But the more I sat with it and thought about visuals/aesthetic, Ricky thought it would be cool to name the EP after a punk song as another Easter egg of me leaning in that direction. So “Here In Your Bedroom” is a nod to a Goldfinger song and it also just fits so well with the lyrics and vibe of it all.
With everything happening now, have you noticed a change in your creative process? Are you being inspired by different things than before?
I am still putting myself into the music the same way, but over the last year I’ve really broadened my taste in music and studied different genres so that I can pull from them in different ways. I want to try different writing/melodic styles along with different production styles through this process.
Since touring isn’t an option right now, how do you plan on staying connected to fans? I know virtual concerts have become a trend, but are there different things you want to try to showcase your work in the new normal?
Rolling out the EP has definitely been a good creative outlet but I’m probably gonna try to find ways to still shoot stuff and do visuals for Instagram/Twitter since it’s hard to be doing big budget videos right now! But also doing covers, live-streams; I’m just not a social person anyway, so I think my fans are used to me having a certain distance on social media.
To close all this out, as cliché as it sounds, what’s to come for Kailee Morgue?
This EP was the only thing on my mind the past couple years so I haven’t really thought about where to go from here, it felt more like a segue into something bigger. I’m sure I’ll come back with a more jarring project in another year or two.
And we at Small Talks can’t wait to hear it all when that day comes.
Kailee Morgue’s new EP “Here In Your Bedroom” is available on all digital platforms. Stay up to date with the artist through Instagram or Twitter.
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