Megan Maroney, a famous country singer and songwriter based out of Tennessee, released her new album, Cloud 9, on February 20th, 2026. The singer-songwriter co-wrote the fifteen track album with many other songwriters including, Mackenzie Carpenter, Jessi Alexander, Rob Hatch, ERNEST, Amy Allen, David Mescon, Ben Williams, and Jessie Jo Dillon. “Cloud 9” is her third studio album after “Am I okay” and “Lucky.” The album is projected to be a #1 hit on the Billboard 200, with over 140,000 in total first-week US consumption.
Cloud 9 is an album on an emotional rollercoaster. The beginning tracks focus on the bright sides of Moroney’s relationships while the closing songs reflect on post-breakup blues as well as feelings of resentment, hatred, and regret.
Sophomore Ava Halsing stated, “Although I don’t think this was her best album, I do think the song writing was great and you can really feel the emotion of each song.”
Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Megan Moroney was surrounded by music throughout her childhood. Her father was a musician himself, and taught her how to play guitar. She took piano and singing lessons too, but never thought that music would be a career path for her. While attending the University of Georgia, her love for songwriting took off, and she began focusing on her music.
At one of her sororities charity events, Moroney took the stage and performed a cover of Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Chase Rice, popular country artist and producer, witnessed this performance and offered her a position to open for his upcoming shows. This sprouted into an internship with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush and a future move to Nashville in 2020. There, she has released her top hit, “Tennessee Orange,” followed by her release of her three studio albums, Lucky, Am I Okay, and most recently, Cloud 9.
Before Cloud 9 was fully released, Moroney teased the album with two singles, “6 Months Later,” released on June 20, 2025, and “Beautiful Things,” released on October 14, 2025. “6 Months Later” is a trademark Megan Moroney song, with lyrics mocking a boy who has karma coming for him after ghosting Moroney, then trying to fix it six months later.
The second single, “Beautiful Things” is inspired by Megan Moroney’s niece, Maranda. The heartfelt ballad contains advice and wisdom to the up and coming generation on navigating the battles of love, friendships, and the teenage desires to fit in.
Sophomore Maggie Peirce said, “I don’t listen to Megan Moroney a lot, but when I heard this song, it really resonated with me. The advice she gave can be applied to so many aspects of my life and I that the song is really special.”
“Cloud 9,” the title track and opening song on the album has 613,000 streams on Spotify. This sweet song talks about Moroney’s relationships, at the point of being perfect, even higher than cloud 9. She admits that the love she shares with her partner brings a happiness that doesn’t let anything bother her. For Moroney, this state of euphoria that her relationship reaches, makes her feel as if she is, “walking on sunshine, holding your hand. You’re putting stars in my eyes like no one else can.”
Similar to “6 Months Later,” “Medicine,” the highest streamed song on the album by over 200 thousand streams on Spotify, talks about Karma and her taking revenge on her boyfriend. She uses the famous line, “how you like the taste of your own medicine” which exhibits her retaliation on the man who has wronged her. In the lines, “Ain’t heard from you in three long days. You won’t hear from me in five” displays the toxic trait of one-upmanship in Moroney’s relationship, where she will drive her boyfriend to the point of going crazy.
“Stupid” follows Moroney being in utter disbelief that a boy would ghost her, but gives him an out, claiming he’s “a lot bit pretty and a little dumb.” This catchy song has less of her normal country twang and more of a pop vibe. She praises herself writing “with a girl like me, you don’t just disappear,” explaining why it is such a problem and mistake for him to ghost her. The song allows Moroney to come to the conclusion that he is just too dumb to not keep a girl like her close to his heart.
The song “Convincing” reveals Megan’s uneasiness about the perfectness of this man she just met. It seems almost fake, how perfect her relationship seems to be, which makes it clear that they are convincingly in love. The melody is led by an acoustic guitar with a true rom-com feel for the listeners. “If someone wrote the script and this is it, I’d watch it over and over,” she sings on the track which contains an uplifting yet simple message to just enjoy the flawlessness of the relationship.
“Liars & Tigers & Bears” is one of Cloud 9’s central pieces and a clear evaluation of the gender inequalities and expectations targeting women in the music industry. The thoughtfully written ballad talks about the sneaky people in the music industry that will “take your place in line” if you simply have a bad day. Moroney explains how, as a woman, she is expected to “Love everybody, aren’t you all friends? Even the one we’ve pit you against.” This speaks to the difficult environment that specifically female country artists face in order to be respected.
The title of the song is also a nod to the famous line from The Wizard of Oz, “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” In the movie, Dorothy, a little girl from Kansas finds herself in a new land, Oz, and finds herself running into problems, specifically the Wicked Witch of the West. This is similar to Megan Moroneys experience of moving to Nashville, a whole new world to her, and having to navigate the liars, tigers, and bears of the music industry.
The song, “I Only Miss You” opens with Ed Sheeran singing, “I thought today would be the day that I finally finish sober. I’d cook a meal and go to bed without sadness in my chest.” Moroney and Ed Sheeran team up to create this more traditional country song, drowning in sorrow lyrics of yearning and longing. This is an immediate change from the upbeat first couple tracks on the album, especially in the lyrics, “I only miss you when it’s raining. But this downpour outside ain’t nothing new.” These lines emanate the continued depression that people face post breakup.
Megan Moroney’s biggest fear is, in the future when she finds a new partner, “And I’m about to say ‘I Do’, Then out of the blue I think of you.” “Wedding Dress” explains these worries that she will never fully get over her past love. She sings of her depressing emotions she undergoes, which happen to appear in everyday moments like, “At the store on aisle 9, when I see the coffee that you like.” The writing and premise for the song are very strong, emulating Moroney’s deep-seated anxiety of never forgetting her ex.
“Change of Heart” is Megan Moroney’s take on a girl’s right to change her mind. Throughout the track, the music slows then rapidly speeds up whenever she changes her mind. As she thinks about how he was her soulmate and she still loves him, the music decelerates and applies a country twang. However in the following lines, “Wait never mind. How could you do it? You put me through it,” the music picks up to a loud, powerful, pop-country mix.
“Bells and Whistles,” featuring Kasey Musgraves, displays Moroney comparing herself to her ex’s possible new girl. In the background of the song, listeners can hear faint whistling following the chorus. At the beginning of the song, listeners may think that the comparison of Moroney and his new girl is bad, as seen in the lines, “I know why you like her. She’s sweet and she’s simple. She’s like me without the bells and the whistles.” Yet, Musgraves and Moroney finish the song with the line, “I’m not me without the bells and the whistles.” This is a message to the listeners to recognize that just because someone is different from you, doesn’t necessarily mean they are better.
“Table for Two” is Megan’s confession of her love which remains post-breakup. Although she knows it might be the wrong decision, singing, “I know I shouldn’t, but I wanna,” she wants to text him anyways. She envisions going back to the old times, forgetting about the past. In the lines, “Picture this: Me and you, tipsy kissing, same side of the booth, No regrets, just the truth like we’re the only ones in this room, at a table for two,” Moroney is grappling with the possible scenario of getting back together with this past love, showing the messy emotions following a separation.
In the song “Wish I Didn’t,” Megan Moroney has heard rumors that her new guy will “play dirty,” but is falling for him anyways. “Wish I Didn’t” is a warning to him to not make her one of his “graveyard of girls before” her because she will come back swinging by writing a song about him, seen in the line, “Some cold killers have guns, but I have songs.” This catchy track by Moroney strays from her typical country style and ventures more toward the pop side of the music world with girl groups backing the vocals.
“Who Hurt You” is a heartbreaking tune to bring the album close to the end. Moroney uses the song to expose that the relationship was just a charade, by singing, “You’d cosplay someone with feelings. Oh I’ve never felt more dumb cause all of that for nothing I just don’t understand” and “In the Mess you made, it was all fake. How did you get so cold?” This terrible treatment of Moroney leads her to ultimately question the reasons behind the bad behavior, wondering, “Who hurt you so bad, bad, bad?” This track echoes the universal feeling of betrayal. She also leaves her fans to speculate whether the song is directed toward another country artist, Riley Green. This is because in the opening lines, Moroney belts, “The Devil went down to Georgia, then crossed the Bama lines,” and Riley Green happens to be from Alabama.
On Spotify, “Waiting on the Rain” has the least streams, at 341,000. The song begins with a crackle of thunder, in essence starting up the song. The final track of the album has a melancholy tone, where Moroney is anticipating the bad to come her way, the future heartbreak. She knows the heartache is coming while still in her lover’s arms. “Oh his head is in the clouds. Looks like it won’t be long now. I’m just waiting, waiting on the rain” symbolizes her lover being completely oblivious to the breakup which will be coming soon. This track is full of emotion and heartfelt lyrics, drawing the listener into a state of sadness yet also peace.
Overall, Cloud 9 draws the listeners in with a range of emotions throughout the entire album. Moroney leaves listeners with sprinkles of advice: do not be envious of others, follow your own path, watch your back, change your mind, and don’t let a boy change you.
