t. hardy morris
photo: Love Stories Co.

T. Hardy Morris (Diamond Rugs) readies new LP -- listen to "Down & Out"

T. Hardy Morris of Diamond Rugs and Dead Confederate will release a new solo album, The Digital Age of Rome, on June 25 via New West imprint Normaltown Records.

Morris had originally intended to record a different album — he had 13 songs ready — with his live band, but then the pandemic hit. He ended up writing a whole new record and enlisted friends, including Drive-By Truckers drummer Brad Morgan and singer-songwriter Faye Webster, to help him make it.

The new single from the album is “Down & Out,” a glistening slice of melancholy dreampop. “The song was written during the throes of the pandemic / lockdown and I was just mulling over how ill-equipped we are as a country for something like a pandemic,” Hardy tells us. “People often say we are a young country, but during the lockdowns I started to think maybe we are a country at a more of a mid-life crisis. Like taking stock of the life we have created, full of regrets and unsure of the best path forward for our future. So that’s where the ‘over-the-hill’ line came from.”

The song premieres in this post and you can listen, and the album’s title track, below.

digital-age-of-rome

T. Hardy Morris The Digital Age of Rome tracklist:
1. DirtRocker
2. New New New…Next Next Next
3. The Digital Age of Rome
4. Shopping Center Sunsets
5. Down & Out
6. Love Takes
7. First World Problems
8. Fake Gold
9. I Assure You (an ode)
10. Just Pretend Everything is Fine