Maren Morris Declares Departure from Country Music

Maren Morris is ready to kick off a new chapter of her career: her departure from the country music genre. She made it official by leaving Columbia Nashville and signing on to the label’s main roster, according to a new interview.

Morris also declared that her new EP The Bridge is one of the many metaphors she uses in daydreaming a path departing the world of the country music industry.

In a newly published interview with the Los Angeles Times, Morris elaborated on her choice: “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over, but it’s burning itself down without my help.”

[RELATED: Maren Morris Stands Tall in Two Evocative New Music Videos]

When asked about seeking distance from the genre, she told the LA Times, “I had to take a step back. The way I grew up was so wrapped in country music, and the way I write songs is very lyrically structured in the Nashville way of doing things. But I think I needed to purposely focus on just making good music and not so much on how we’ll market it. “

“The last few records, that’s always been in the back of my mind: Will this work in the country music universe?” she continued. “Obviously, being one of the few women that had any success on country radio, everything you do is looked at under a microscope. You’re scrutinized more than your male peers, even when you’re doing well. So I’ve had to clear all of that out of my head this year and just write songs. A lot of the drama within the community, I’ve chosen to step outside out of it.”

The artist told the publication that she absolutely admires Taylor Swift‘s ability to move seamlessly into another style of music. “She’s been such a great friend over the years and has been really helpful in ways she probably doesn’t even realize in conversations I’ve had with her about everything you and I have been talking about.”

In the new music videos for the “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here,” which were directed by Jason Lester, Morris wanders through a stylized small town singing the poignant tracks as storefronts hang going-out-of-business signs — further signifying her departure from the genre in which she got her start.

Photo by Harper Smith, courtesy of Sony Music