Kevin Morby has released a new single called “Die Young,” the second preview from his upcoming eighth studio album Little Wide Open, arriving May 15 through Dead Oceans. The track follows the album’s first single, “Javelin,” and comes paired with a quietly striking music video that leans into the reflective mood of the song.
“Die Young” settles into a mid-tempo groove that feels calm and allows Morby to tell his story. The arrangement is gentle and atmospheric, carried by a backdrop of violins from Mat Davidson, whose playing adds an additional layer to the track without overpowering it. The strings sit behind Morby’s voice like a slow-moving horizon.
Lyrically, the song looks back on the unpredictable life Morby has lived as a touring musician. Across the verses he recalls moments that could have ended badly, a crashed ranger near the Louisiana Texas state line and another memory involving a shattered windshield during a drive out of Boone. Instead of dwelling on the danger, the song circles around a feeling of gratitude. The refrain, “Thank god that we didn’t die young,” lands as a moment of reflection and realization.
Morby has described the track as love letter to the road and to the people he’s shared it with over the past two decades. It also reflects on his relationship with Katie, whom he met while both were playing shows years ago. The video, directed by Zak Gorsuch, Chantal Anderson and Morby, keeps things simple. It follows Morby wandering through wide sunflower fields, the camera lingering on the landscape as he moves through it alone. The setting matches the song’s tone, reflective, calm and full of space to think about how far the journey has gone.
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