Album Review: "Cloud 9" - Megan Moroney

Tessa Brainard
10 minutes ago
10 min read

Country-pop superstar Megan Moroney has had a whirlwind career since the release of her single, “Tennessee Orange,” in 2022. I discovered Moroney on TikTok in early 2022 when she posted a snippet of her song, “Hair Salon.” Since then, I’ve watched her skyrocket to new levels of fame and success.

Moroney’s third studio album, Cloud 9, was released on February 20, 2026, following much excitement. This record is, hands down, her strongest yet. While I love her first two albums, Lucky and Am I Okay?, Cloud 9 has absolutely stolen my heart.

Tracklist

Cloud 9
Medicine
6 Months Later
Stupid
Beautiful Things
Convincing
Liars & Tigers & Bears
I Only Miss You (ft. Ed Sheeran)
Wedding Dress
Change of Heart
Bells & Whistles (ft. Kacey Musgraves)
Table For Two
Wish I Didn’t
Who Hurt You?
Waiting On the Rain

Cloud 9

As the album’s title track, “Cloud 9,” opens with a dreamy guitar and melody that invokes the feeling of floating on air. As a longtime Moroney fan who knows that she typically doesn’t write love songs, this is the romantic track I, and other lover girls, have been waiting for.

This song explores the butterflies and the bliss of true love. Even when life and its inconveniences arise, knowing that your partner will be waiting for you with open arms at the end of the day makes those things seem insignificant.

Some lyrics in this song are reminiscent of “Happy & Sad” by Kacey Musgraves, who Moroney has cited as one of her biggest inspirations and who is featured on the latter half of this album. In Musgraves’ song, she sings, “I never felt so high // No, I’ve never been this far off the ground // And they say everything that goes up, must come down // And I don’t wanna come down.”

Meanwhile, in “Cloud 9,” Moroney plays off the age-old adage of being on “Cloud 9.” However, this relationship is so euphoric that Moroney feels that she’s even higher than that.

Medicine

“Medicine” is a honky-tonk track that playfully seeks vengeance on a cheating ex by giving them “a taste of [your] own medicine.” While a stark immediate contrast to the title track, “Medicine” still truly sets the stage for the overall upbeat nature of this album. It has an old-school twang that has been missing in the modern country scene, while still being inviting to the newer generation of country listeners. The song is a snappy and biting showcase of Moroney’s razor-sharp wit.

6 Months Later

“6 Months Later” was the first single of the album, released in June 2025, and has achieved major commercial success by reaching #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was a perfect introduction to this new, pop-heavy era for Moroney and has been a hit among fans since its release. Though I’ve heard this song countless times since its debut last summer, “6 Months Later” still lives up to the hype.

It’s one of the catchier tracks on the album that describes the moment an ex tries to get back into Moroney’s life long after she has moved on. She sings, “When you couldn’t care more, I couldn’t care less // You’re a little too late to the party, heartbreaker // What doesn’t kill you calls you six months later.” For those of us who believe that they always come back one way or another, this song is all too relatable. Furthermore, this song is a prime reminder that what doesn’t kill you only makes you “stronger and hotter.”

Stupid

“Stupid” is a standout track on this album for me, and not just because I can relate to it!. With her tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Moroney pokes fun at a guy for ghosting her by implying that, despite him not being the brightest star in the sky, there’s no way he’d be stupid enough to let a girl like her go.

It speaks to feelings we’ve all had when someone we liked didn’t text us back. Moroney tries to rationalize how someone who isn’t even on her level could give up the chance to be with her. While the guy she wants, “probably couldn’t spell valedictorian,” she’s “humble and most days attractive.” If she’s the whole package, the only logical explanation for her love interest’s silence is that something terrible has happened that is keeping them from getting to their phone.

The track is upbeat and spunky, and it’s bound to be on the setlist for Moroney’s upcoming tour. In true Moroney fashion, she uses her glittery gel pen to put a fun spin on a negative situation.

Beautiful Things

“Beautiful Things” is a ballad written for Moroney’s niece that tugs on the heartstrings with every listen. When talking about the meaning behind the song, Moroney said, “When she was born, I remember being in awe of how sweet and perfect she was… I was sad knowing that when she grows up, the world may be cruel to her sometimes." When reflecting on the song, Moroney also stated that this song is one she wishes she could have given to her younger self.

The backing instrumentals are simple yet beautiful, allowing the lyrics to shine. The emotion in Moroney’s voice is evident as she sings, making the song even more heartfelt and raw. This track is a true testament to the growth of her songwriting.

Convincing

“Convincing” is one of my favorites on this album because of its dreamy instrumentals and its skeptical, yet hopeful, love-at-first-sight lyrics. As a hopeless romantic and a major realist when it comes to love, this song would easily fit into one of my favorite romantic comedies.

The best songs are the ones that we can imagine ourselves in. When listening to this track, it’s easy to get swept up in the image of spending one magical evening with someone you know you’re about to fall in love with, but knowing you should probably stop yourself before you do. It’s full of butterflies and the tentative hopefulness of meeting someone for the first time and instantly clicking with them. While in the back of your mind, you know you might just be caught up in the moment and the romantic scenery, you’re still wishing that this will last beyond a single night.

“Convincing” is one of the shortest songs on the album, clocking in at just under three minutes, but it makes a lasting impact and is an easy listen to put on repeat.

Liars & Tigers & Bears

“Liars & Tigers & Bears” is one of the best songs on this album. While this song is written to Moroney’s experience as a woman navigating the experience of being one of country’s rising stars, it is relatable even for those of us who do not work in the music industry daily; we have all had falling outs with friends, tense relationships with coworkers, or generally felt unwelcome in spaces we deserve to occupy.

While the play off the common children’s expression, “lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!” could easily become cheesy, Moroney expertly navigates around this pitfall to create an insightful track that displays her maturity and longevity as an artist.

I Only Miss You (ft. Ed Sheeran)

Featuring Ed Sheeran, “I Only Miss You” is one of the tracks on this album that I’m not 100% sure how to feel about. It’s a slow, lamenting guitar ballad that speaks to the heartbreak felt long after a relationship has ended.

Moroney yearns for this person, only missing them “when [I’ve] been drinking, and [I’ve] been drinking all the time.” This song feels like a classic country heartbreak tune that I’d hear at my favorite karaoke bar. It has a nostalgic quality that adds to its devastating honesty.

While I enjoy the track overall, I feel it would have been stronger featuring a male country singer with more twang, rather than Sheeran. I grew up listening to his music, so while I typically enjoy his vocals, I’m not sure if they were best for this song. That being said, I don’t know many male vocalists in the current state of the country scene, so I’m not sure whose voice would best be lent to this track instead. Overall, this track is good, but a bit less polished than some of the others on the album.

Wedding Dress

“Wedding Dress” is a song that I needed when I was 20 years old, convinced I would never get over my first love following our breakup. It’s a heartwrenching track that can only be written after experiencing such a great loss. Moroney fearfully wonders if she will ever fully move on and be happy without this person again, or if she’ll be comparing every future partner to them. Will she be able to stop missing him one day, or will memories of him still be burned into her brain as she’s about to marry someone else?

Backed by only a few strumming guitars, the pain in Moroney’s voice makes this song more believable. She recounts being able to survive missing this person every time she sees something that reminds her of him, but she prays that the yearning runs its course before she’s standing at the altar before another person.

This is another standout track on the album for me, even though I haven’t had my heartbroken in a long time. This song speaks to the fears too many of us have lived with, even if we refuse to admit it. We all carry secret memories and mournings for people we were once connected to, even if we’d never go back to them. While we can live with these things quietly most of the time without letting them consume us, Moroney recounts the feeling of being completely haunted by this old flame. It is heartfelt and honest, highlighting the evolution that Moroney has experienced in her songwriting up to this point in her career.

Change of Heart

“Change of Heart” is one for anyone who has ever survived and left (then returned, then left again, rinse, repeat) a toxic relationship. While the rollercoaster can be fun at times, it’s not worth the heartache it brings… until it is. Moroney fights with herself and with her on-again, off-again partner, knowing that she may never be truly done with them because each time she swears them off for good, she has “a change of heart.”

The song is more pop-rock than it is true country, but that’s what I love about it. Moroney’s voice is strong enough to match the intensity of the song’s electric guitars, and with a few call-and-response sections designed for a live setting, this song is bound to be a fan-favorite on tour. The lyrics are angry and cathartic, easy to scream in an arena full of girls who have also had their hearts broken.

Bells & Whistles (ft. Kacey Musgraves)

Featuring Kacey Musgraves, “Bells & Whistles” is another more traditional-sounding country track that sounds like a bonus track from Musgraves’ sophomore album, Pageant Material.

The song describes watching an ex move on with a new woman who is “just like [her] without the bells and the whistles.” This new girl is sweet and uncomplicated, without the added baggage of being in the spotlight and having “a heart on the highway.”

The song is more self-deprecating than it is scathing or jealous, but there is an undertone of self-assuredness at the same time. With lyrics like, “She don’t put on no makeup, and she don’t bleach her hair // She wouldn’t be caught dead in the clothes that I wear,” Moroney knows that her self-expression isn’t for everyone. Yet, she writes, “I’m not me without the bells and the whistles.”

Table For Two

“Table For Two” continues to follow the back-and-forth dynamic of Moroney’s relationship with this person. In this case, she can’t help but miss him and wonder if they still have a chance to get it right. She daydreams about calling him and getting “a table for two” in a romantic, candle-lit restaurant and hoping that it will fix everything. She knows she shouldn’t, but her heart may win over her head, and if it does, she knows that he will meet her wherever she asks. The instrumentals are wistful and soft, encapsulating the melancholic fantasy of getting back together with an ex.

Wish I Didn’t

“Wish I Didn’t” is the third single from Cloud 9 and another well-loved song among fans. In this track, Moroney warns her new love interest against breaking her heart. She has heard “all of the horror stories, the graveyard of girls before [her],” and cautions that should he play games with her as he has with others in the past, she’ll quickly make him regret it. While she’s developing feelings for this person, she’s still keeping her eyes open, “I think I’m falling for ya // Don’t make me wish I didn't.”

This song is very reminiscent of Sabrina Carpenter’s hits, “Please, Please, Please,” and “Good Graces,” as Moroney tells her partner, “Roses are red, you’ll be so blue // If I take a chance and find out firsthand that they were right about you.” The track is witty and just the right amount of scathing.

Who Hurt You?

“Who Hurt You?” is the aftermath of “Wish I Didn’t,” as Moroney now has to pick up the pieces of the relationship. She fell for her ex’s persona, only to be hurt in the end. Now, she has to wonder what made this person so cold, and how someone could lie so convincingly.

This song is for the moments when you’re over the person, but you’re not over how badly they treated you. Even though Moroney would never take him back, she still flashes back to the instances where this person hurt her, and she wonders how things went so wrong. There is a true strength to her vocals that effortlessly embodies the mix of hurt and frustration that arises in such situations.

Waiting On the Rain

“Waiting On the Rain” closes the album in stark contrast to how it began. While “Cloud 9” opens the project with Moroney feeling on top of the world in love, this track reminds us that even the best things can come crashing down.

It evokes the same feelings that “Scared of My Guitar” by Olivia Rodrigo brings out every time I listen to it. Moroney explores the guilt of being with someone she knows is not the one, but staying with them anyway. While she cares for this person, she knows that the metaphorical rain is bound arrive and ruin their bout of sunny days.

Being with someone you love, but aren’t sure if you’re in love with, is terrifying and shameful. There is no worse feeling than breaking the heart of someone good at their core, and this track articulates that.

Moroney’s vocals on this track are vulnerable yet strong, backed by a cinematic collection of strings and a gentle guitar, making it an excellent way to bookend the project.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this album, and I know it will be one I put on repeat throughout the year. She has a true knack for writing songs that are relatable, no matter where you’re at in your life. Though all of her songs are written about her own experiences, they’re still easy to put yourself into, whether you’re currently living them out or reminiscing on a time when you were. It has been truly amazing to see how far Moroney has come since I first discovered her music, and this record is a real triumph.

Written By Tessa Brainard