guccihighwaters Releases New Album ‘DEATH BY DESIRE’ Out Now Via Epitaph
Today, guccihighwaters – the moniker of singer/songwriter/producer Morgan Murphy – shares his self-produced album ‘DEATH BY DESIRE’. Out now via Epitaph Records, he masterfully weaves his inky R&B aesthetic with sultry alt-pop into a narrative that chronicles an artist’s fatal attraction to the dark side. LISTEN HERE
After leading with a string of singles that toy with themes of toxicity and lust, focus track “HIGH” is the closest Murphy feels he’s gotten to writing a “happy” song. One of the first for the album, he divulges, “’HIGH’ is about someone special to me. When we met, I felt it instantly, like the best drug you could think of.” LISTEN HERE
In the years following his sophomore record ‘joke’s on you’ (2021), guccihighwaters hit a creative roadblock, feeling disconnected from his work amidst collaborations with various producers and songwriters. Seeking a new path, he retreated to his home studio to embrace a bold new direction; self-producing the sultry, alternative pop soundscapes that would define album number three, DEATH BY DESIRE.
Lyrically, guccihighwaters dives deeper than ever before, approaching songwriting in a raw and honest way that leaves no emotional stone unturned. “DEATH BY DESIRE is about the dark side of things that are seen as bad or sinful—lust, greed, jealousy,” he says. “I wanted to showcase what the dark side of being an artist can be. In the past, I hadn't really dipped into that aspect of myself too much, but for this record I wanted to get everything out there—even the bad feelings.”
He continues, “I usually tend to hold back on certain themes/topics, but with this album I didn't.” From the toxicity dripping from his brooding, piano-led single “DESIRE”, he depicts a maleficent romance with suggestive closing track “IF LOOKS COULD KILL” featuring alternative artist/DJ TOOPOOR. He croons on the synth-laden “NOBODY ELSE”, exploring lust, love, obsession and the effects of overindulging on it all. “I always say, ‘You’re lucky if you can’t relate’, but to those who do, you’ll feel it.”
With full creative control, aside from trusted collaborators TOOPOOR and No Love For The Middle Child, guccihighwaters displays just how far he’s come in his artistic abilities. "I wanted to fully trust myself and my ideas, and that progression ultimately resulted in my expressing the honesty of who I am as a creator,” he muses. “DEATH BY DESIRE is the rawest form of my art.”
His third album marks a sonic evolution for the artist who emerged from the SoundCloud emo-rap scene of 2016-2017. Revealing a matured sound marked by creative and personal growth, he reflects how DEATH BY DESIRE is a snapshot of the moment that he finds himself in. “I'm still figuring out life—it's an ongoing journey of struggles that I've experienced—but there’s joy in this music too, because I've definitely become a happier person and more comfortable with myself.”