7/09/2025

T. Hardy Morris To Release "Artificial Tears" (Produced by Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket) August 8

T. HARDY MORRIS TO RELEASE ARTIFICIAL TEARS AUGUST 8, 2025 VIA NORMALTOWN / NEW WEST RECORDS 

PRODUCED BY CARL BROEMEL OF MY MORNING JACKET 

MAGNET MAGAZINE PREMIERES “DON’T KILL YOUR TIME (TO SHINE)” TODAY 


T. Hardy Morris Photograph by Daniel Dent 

T. Hardy Morris will release Artificial Tears on August 8, 2025 via the New West Records imprint Normaltown Records. The 12-song set was produced & mixed by Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket and follows Morris’ 2021 album The Digital Age of Rome. Met with critical acclaim, SPIN said, “Despairingly singing of the contemporary state of the world and of its sorrows and contradictions, Morris has a heartfelt incisiveness unchecked by vanity, one that gushes without fetters,” and Brooklyn Vegan called it “...a glistening slice of melancholy dreampop.” No Depression said “The Digital Age of Rome is Morris at peak songwriting,” Flagpole named it one of “The 10 Best albums of 2021,” while Glide Magazine exclaimed “Thankfully, sadness and despair never sounded so good.” 

Today, Magnet Magazine premiered the album highlight, “Don’t Kill Your Time (To Shine).” Morris says, "This is a song directed at young artists, young lovers, former selves; don’t waste your time worrying what others think and definitely don’t kill your time by giving up. Rock and roll is a young people’s game and that’s what I love about it. I love discovering young artists and especially hearing what they’re creating as they’re discovering themselves. That’s the best music to me."

Flood Magazine previously premiered the album’s first single, “Juvenile Years.” The bittersweet song reaches back for memories of a simpler time and place that hang just out of reach. Morris says, “‘Juvenile Years’ is a song somewhat specific to Athens, GA and the live local music scene as I came up in it. It was often a whirlwind of intense bonds over music and what one another was creating. Some of the relationships survive & carry on and some have passed like a strange song, but all were and are meaningful to who I am now.” 

Artificial Tears is an electrifying work of existential exploration. It is a raw, rock and roll reflection on meaning and identity in a modern world that’s simultaneously more connected and isolated than ever before. The performances are blissed-out and hazy, captured primarily on a four-track machine, and Morris’ delivery is subtle and understated to match, fueled by tumbling, stream-of-consciousness lyrics rooted in a dreamy sense of longing and nostalgia. Despite the weighty ruminations at its core, the result is a remarkably grounded, down to earth album that’s at once honest and abstract, a poignant, clear-eyed look in the mirror from a master craftsman committed to his work for nothing more—and nothing less—than its own intrinsic value. 

In typical fashion for Morris, the songs came slowly at first, then all at once in a rush as he reflected on two decades of highs and lows, on the joys and struggles of a life in music. When it came time to record, he called on Broemel, who ended up not only producing, but playing the vast majority of the instruments on the album. “Hardy’s got a really direct and honest approach to music—and to life—which was refreshing,” says Broemel. “He likes to work fast and not get too precious about things.” 

After cutting some rehearsals and demos on a Teac four-track at Broemel’s house, they headed to a studio in Nashville for the “official sessions,” but something was missing. “The studio was great for some of the songs,” Morris recalls, “but I often found myself drawn more to the demos we’d done at Carl’s house, so we headed back to his place to finish the record the way we’d started.” “The quiet songs needed that raw and simple approach to feel right,” explains Broemel. “As we continued recording back at my house, we elaborated on the four-track process and started recording some more full band tracks there, as well.” That intentional embrace of the grit and limitations of four-track recording forms the heart and soul of Artificial Tears

“I’ve spent a lot of time parsing the difference between art and entertainment,” Morris says. “Not just for myself, but for society at large. What does it mean to be an artist? How do we measure creative success? Where are the boundaries between audience and performer when everyone’s broadcasting their lives 24/7?” Meditations on the true meaning of satisfaction turn up throughout Artificial Tears. “When you focus on entertainment over art, you start reaching for your lowest impulses, for the lowest forms of security and status,” Morris muses. “When you let go of the stuff that doesn’t matter and stop being so overly concerned with material things, you can appreciate the real stuff that’s all around you.” he explains, “I’ll always be writing music, no matter who’s listening. Day in and day out, one phrase to the next. This has always been more than a dream. It’s been a calling.” 

Born and raised in Georgia, T. Hardy Morris is a founding member of the rock band Dead Confederate who introduced him to life on the road, playing 200-plus shows a year, supporting R.E.M, and touring Europe with Dinosaur Jr. He is also a founding member of the indie-rock supergroup Diamond Rugs alongside John McCauley and Robbie Crowell of Deer Tick, Ian Saint Pe of Black Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite. The group have released two albums to date; their 2012 eponymous debut followed by 2015’s Cosmetics.

Artificial Tears will be available across digital platforms, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited-to-100 red color vinyl edition autographed by T. Hardy Morris will be available via Bandcamp and is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS

Artificial Tears Track Listing:

1. Write It In The Sky
2. I Guess
3. Juvenile Years
4. Breakneck Speed
5. Don’t Kill Your Time (To Shine)
6. Sweet Success
7. Low Hopes
8. Poets In The Mist
9. Knowing Me
10. Shadows Of Doubt
11. Fight Forever
12. Trouble Will

T. Hardy Morris Live:

August 1 – Atlanta, GA – The Moody Motel
August 7 – Athens, GA – Hidden Gem (Album Listening Party & Solo Set)
August 23 – Chattanooga, TN – Cherry Street Tavern (w/ Justin & The Cosmics)
August 24 – Nashville, TN – Soft Junk (w/ Justin & The Cosmics)
August 26 – Lexington, KY – The Burl (w/ Tyler Ramsey)
August 27 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi Fi Indy (w/ Tyler Ramsey)
August 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Vivarium (w/ Tyler Ramsey)
August 29 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark (w/ Tyler Ramsey)
September 26 – Athens, GA – Flicker Theatre (w/ The Pink Stones)

www.THardyMorris.com
www.NewWestRecords.com 

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