On Ella Langley’s New Duet with Morgan Wallen

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On Friday (4-24), Ella Langley released a new duet with Morgan Wallen called “I Can’t Love You Anymore.” The duo first debuted the song live on April 18th during a Wallen tour stop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Though Langley has previously performed with Wallen live as an opener for him on tour, this is the duo’s first official studio release.

“I Can’t Love You Anymore” comes just a couple of weeks after Ella Langley released her latest album, the blockbuster all-genre #1 Dandelion. Her song “Choosin’ Texas” also remains the hottest single in all of music, while it’s followup “Be Her” also sits at #4 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot Country Songs chart—the first time a country woman has ever had two singles simultaneously sit in the Top 5 in all of music.

Meanwhile, tracks from Dandelion dominate Billboard’s Hot Country songs chart, filling five of the Top 10 spots, eight of the Top 20 spots, and 16 spots in the Top 40, with only her “Froggy Went A Courtin” intro/outtro being left out due to track length eligibility.

Though “I Can’t Love You Anymore” didn’t appear on Dandelion originally, it does come with a similar late ’70s, early 80s dreamy vibe that helps define the Dandelion experience, with some comparing it to a Fleetwood Mac song. It was co-written and co-produced by Ella Langley herself, with Austin Goodloe also credited as a co-writer and co-producer, and Alex Maxwell also picking up a writing credit.

Also credited on the track are steel guitarist Spencer Cullum, and guitarist Charlie Worsham—two musicians who also participated in the Dandelion sessions, so it’s not out of the question the song might have initially been slated for the album, and left off for whatever reason. The song has also officially been added as the last track on Dandelion on streaming DSPs.

The track itself is pleasant enough, and country enough despite the synthy stylization, though doesn’t feel especially exceptional either. If anything holds it back, its how Morgan Wallen’s vocal signal sounds so processed, especially when contrasted with the otherwise organic nature of a song that allows the steel guitar to swell in the mix.

Wallen’s vocals were likely subject to the same default digital sweeteners you hear on many mainstream radio country tracks these days, insisting that perfection is what audiences crave as opposed to authenticity.


But the biggest criticism of the track has nothing to do with the track itself. It has to do why it’s being released at all, and especially the timing. Ella Langley is not starved for attention. On the contrary, she’s already created a traffic jam for herself at the top of numerous charts with “Choosin’ Texas” and “Be Her,” which both feed data into the chart performance for Dandelion. Releasing a new song with Wallen risks taking attention away from those high performing tracks, and for multiple reasons.

Morgan Wallen remains one of the most vilified characters in all of country music, if not the most vilified, whether those notions are valid or otherwise. He’s a favorite whipping boy of politically-oriented musical commentators and social media pundits who love to use their hatred for him to socially posture and morally preen, despite Wallen never having espoused any sort of political thought. Frankly, it’s fair to question just how much Wallen thinks about anything.

The continued obsession with Morgan Wallen as a hate vector feels completely outdated if nothing else, especially in the face of the accusations against Jelly Roll. It’s fighting the last battle as opposed to the one that’s in front of you. It’s a default.

But whether it’s fair or not, some have and will perceive Ella Langley releasing a duet with Morgan Wallen as a strident, naked, unmitigated political act and expression, publicly endorsing any and all of Wallen’s actions and ideologies, both true and perceived. You’re already enjoying universal consensus, so why take a risk? She might as well have come out on stage in a MAGA hat, with a backlash already ensuing in a way that will parse her current popularity, with the only question being how marginal or significant that parsing will be.

But an even bigger question remains, why release this song now? Perhaps Langley’s label feels they need to goose attention for her to make sure her winning streak is extended beyond the immediate release of Dandelion, even though “Be Her” is doing that just fine, if not better than “I Can’t Love You Anymore” will.

The ugly truth is that behind the scenes in the music business, who records a duet with who, and who opens for who on tour is a delicate, intricate dance of label and booking agency politics and pay-offs in often mutually beneficial promotional schemes to leverage exposure. Morgan Wallen has featured Ella Langley out on the road multiple times, including bringing her out during his set, and introducing her to his massive audience. Now that Ella Langely is getting so much heat, perhaps it’s time for her to return that favor.

Whether this is the true motivation behind this song release, Ella Langley doesn’t need Morgan Wallen. Morgan Wallen needs Ella Langley at the moment. But Ella is the one assuming all the risk and public backlash, while Wallen just sucks up more attention, and perhaps is given a goosing of legitimacy with certain audiences.

Another admittedly cynical reading of the situation might be that Ella Langley and/or her camp is anticipating the controversy under the premise of “no pub is bad pub.” Or maybe Langley and her camp is using the duet as a way to stoke the same kind of relationship rumors that have swirled around her and Riley Green, and Morgan Wallen and Megan Moroney, creating a whirlwind of attention for all the respective parties and their music.

Either way, Ella Langley could have used this moment to release a single with Kaitlin Butts, or perhaps Megan Moroney to codify their 1 – 2 status as country’s top women. Instead, adding Morgan Wallen who already has plenty of attention and a polarizing aspect seems to misunderstand the moment. It’s almost like the powers that be in country music are still working off the now deprecated notion that women need to piggy back off men for attention.

Let’s also not overlook the potential that Ella Langely might just like the song, considers Wallen a friend, doesn’t care about any controversy, and wanted this song released herself since it didn’t make the record. Maybe the idea was to leave the song off Dandelion initially so it didn’t distract from it. And now that the album is released, it can be added in post. Still, the question of “why now?” is a fair one. Why not wait for the deluxe edition six months down the road?

But ultimately, none of this might matter in the grander scheme. There’s a chance that “I Can’t Love You Anymore” is equivalent to an album cut, gets a bunch of early attention, and then goes forgotten for the next thing in people’s information feed. That might actually be the best case scenario for Ella.

But measuring the song’s potential ramifications really helps you realize just what a new day it is for women in country music. Ella Langley doesn’t need Morgan Wallen or anyone else. As the success of “Choosin’ Texas” and Dandelion prove, she’s excelling all on her own.

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