That “Tennessee Orange” gal is in the black, as far as her country music currency goes. Megan Moroney ‘s second album proves that she’s a country keeper, if there was any concern — and there shouldn’t have been — that her 2023 debut album, “Lucky,” was a fluke. Coming just 14 months after that record’s arrival, “Am I Okay?” is more than just all right: It establishes that she’s one of traditional-leaning country’s best and brightest new standard-bearers, upholding the most essential of the old values in a broadly beguiling new package.
If it’s at all true, as former country singer Taylor Swift claimed, that heartbreak is the national anthem, then Moroney is determined to be one of the genre’s foremost chroniclers of the bombs bursting in air. Or maybe not determined so much as just registering some recent life experiences, as the songs she co-wrote for “Am I Okay?” carry the distinct whiff of first-person reportage, not writers’ room roughage. There was an irony, of sorts, with Moroney’s debut album, where she made it clear that her natural inclination was toward sad songs saying so much — even though the singles, including “Tennessee Orange” and “Lucky,” tended to be upbeat outliers.
I’m happy to say the new album isn’t any more happy-go-lucky; if anything, she’s doubled down a little on the weepers. Which, frankly, may be easier to sell when there’s some sex appeal to go with the sadness. The hurt in her heartbreak b.