Damn Love

"I’m really sorry to leave last night with so many things left unsaid. ... Walking away has never really been that tough for me until now. Just know that I want to give you that life you want, but I’m just not sure I’m capable. Damn love, right?"

(Kip Moore / Instagram, February 24, 2023)

It is a very authentic sounding message, that Kip Moore put out on social media recently to make the world curious about the title cut of his fifth studio album, announced for release on April 28, 2023. So authentic, that in spite of the use of a long outdated answering machine, he subsequently had to stress, that it was not a real message, but one made up in support of the new song.

But the theme of the message just fit ' 'Damn Love', which deals with probably the most complex emotion mankind knows. It'll heal, it'll kill, it'll hurt - as the song written by Jason Gantt, Jaren Johnston [The Cadillac Three] and James McNair describes the range of feelings associated with love.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Kip Moore (@kipmooremusic)

Or as Kip Moore admits via countrynow.com: "I’ve always had a nomadic spirit, at the core of me that’s what I am, and it’s a beautiful life I lead – I don’t take that for granted. But I still crave that companionship down deep in my DNA, and that’s where 'Damn Love' comes from." After all freedom may emotionally be less complicated, but there may still be something missing.

It rolled right through,
it's wild, reckless, dumb,
Hitchhike, hold out your thumb,

you don't know no better, got the tattoo to prove it.

(Damn Love /  Jason Gantt, Jaren Johnston, James McNair)

 

'Damn Love' may have been announced as the official new single, but on the country charts it will most likely not play a significant role. This is not only due to the musical production, which is a step away from typical country radio material, but also because Kip Moore is no longer willing to compromise to just get some airplay. That's why his press release quotes him as an uncompromising, genre-defying artist ... with a bit more Southern rock than traditional country.

 

And that he is indeed no longer dependent on radio success gets proven by his current tour, which started in March (of 2023) and which is rightly named Damn Love World Tour. Kicking off in Australia, it will have him stop in New Zealand, South Africa, continental Europe and Great Britain, before eventually bringing him back to the US. Which means that people will get a chance to see him live in Germany (Hamburg, Cologne), the Netherlands and the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London during May 2023.

For the latter stop on May 20, Kip Moore will be the headliner for a small first-time event titled Highways Festival, which has announced the as of yet rather unknown singer/songwriter Stephen Wilson, Jr., along with newcomers Morgan Wade and Jackson Dean as additional performers. Fittingly, the audience should be able to look forward to the performance of 'If I Was Your Lover', for which Kip Moore added Morgan Wade by public demand as a featured guest in the studio and after initial release of the song as just a solo cut.

 

The upcoming project of "Damn Love", produced by Jaren Johnston of The Cadillac Three, will comprise 13 new songs, among them 'One Heartbeat', a duet featuring Ashley McBryde. She has been on tour with him previously. So that probably became the catalyst for the collaboration. On 12 songs Kip Moore is contributing as a songwriter, while interestingly the only one he did not have a hand in writing, is the title track and newly released single.

With 'Damn Love' Kip Moore is not adressing a profound or socio-policitally important topic. But as he rightfully says: "There’s a reason love and relationships have been written about so much – and why they continue to get written about. Because at the core of us, that’s what we desire the most."