Maren Morris’ new song with Julia Michaels will have listeners in their feels.
The first track from Morris’ upcoming EP, Intermission, “Cut!” captures the singer’s inner dialogue of trying to appear perfect every day — while falling apart privately at night.
“‘Cut!’ is about me holding myself together through the day, looking well-rested, not a hair out of place, not canceling any plans with friends because that’s how well I want you to think I’m doing,” Morris, 34, said in a press release obtained by Us Weekly. “Perhaps those things are all true, but at night, I let the mask slip and let myself scream or fall apart to let the steam out of the kettle.”
The singer added, “It’s a cathartic release that doesn’t require secrecy, but there are worldly expectations to keep it together despite your feelings. This song gives me permission to fall apart.”
In the chorus, Morris sings, “I’m screaming, ‘Cut’ / I need a moment to just / Let my tears fall where they want / Honestly, f–k / I’ve held it in long enough / I gave it all that I got / I’m screaming, ‘Cut.’”
At a different point in the song, Michaels belts out, “I know all my lines / I’m annoyingly fine / ‘Til the silence at night calls my bluff.”
“Cut!” is Morris’ second collaboration with Michaels, 30. The pair cowrote “Circles Around This Town” in 2020, which went on to earn two Grammy nominations. In addition to Morris and Michaels, “Cut!” was also cowritten by Caroline Allin and Joel Little, with production by Little.
There are five tracks on Morris’ upcoming EP, which drops on August 2, including: “Cut!,” “I Hope I Never Fall in Love,” “Push Me Over,” “Because, Of Course” and “This Is How a Woman Leaves.”
Morris, who is in the middle of her RSVP Redux tour, previously debuted her song “I Hope I Never Fall in Love” during a June 12 concert at Red Rocks in Colorado.
“When you hear the title, you’re going to be like, ‘OK, bitch. Yeah, right,’” she told the crowd. “This song I wrote with my friend Delacey. This song is called ‘I Hope I Never Fall in Love.’ It’s pretty [self]-explanatory.”
The heartwrenching lyrics are about how love did her “dirty,” as she sings, “I was once a bitch when it came to love / I’d get a little hit and be all messed up / But I loved him from the bottom and I saw the light / God as my witness, that was the last time.”
Six months before beginning her RSVP Redux tour, Morris filed for divorce from Ryan Hurd in October 2023, citing irreconcilable differences. The pair were married for five years and share their 4-year-old son, Hayes. Their divorce was finalized in December 2023.