Billy Morrison release new album “Hollow” today + new single & video “Take Me As I Am”

Billy Morrison is marking today’s release of his new album “HOLLOW”, via TLG | ZOID distributed by Virgin Music Group, by sharing a video for one of the album’s highlights: “Take Me As I Am.” The soul-baring and thunderous track is rooted in heavy, angst-fueled ‘90s rock and holds nothing back with such lyrics as “Left unchecked I’m an animal, everything is flammable/I don’t wanna be this way.” Listen to the track HERE, watch the video HERE, and hear the album HERE. Read a Q&A about “Take Me As I Am” below with the British singer, songwriter, and guitarist who’s touring America this summer starting tonight (August 7) as Billy Idol’s rhythm guitar player alongside Steve Stevens.

The “Take Me As I Am” video was directed by photographer Jane Stuart, who’s been pivotal to the Morrison visual aesthetic over the course of two albums, and filmed throughout Los Angeles where Morrison lives. The striking video powerfully underlines the personal chaos and desperation that he’s singing about. His longtime friend—musician Franky Perez, seen performing with two showgirl dancers—makes a cameo.

Morrison is currently impacting DSP playlists with the album’s third single, “Never Gonna Change,” a fiery pop punk anthem of alienation and rebellion that merges raging guitars and a prison-break pace with the unmistakable vocals of The Offspring lead singer. Watch the Mike Savage-directed lyric video HERE.  

The first single from “HOLLOW” was “Becoming” [feat. Sully Erna of Godsmack & GRAMMY® Award winner Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme]. The track peaked at #19 on Billboard’s “Mainstream Rock” chart and marked Morrison’s third Top 20 rock track overall. Erna delivers an impassioned and raspy vocal performance on this song about transforming one’s life from darkness to light and Bettencourt rises to the occasion, ripping pure hellfire on his guest solo. Listen to the song HERE and watch the video, directed by Ivo Raza,  HERE. 

Morrison then hit hard with the explosive and lyrically gripping single “Hollow,” along with an artful and eye-popping lyric video that traces Morrison’s previously unhinged life. View the Mike Savage-directed video HERE and listen to the autobiographical song, highlighted by Morrison’s deeply felt vocals and sweeping lead guitar runs, HERE.

Throughout an illustrious career, Billy Morrison has played live in front of millions of fans, collaborated with every A-list rockstar under the sun (even notching a #1 single with the late Ozzy Osbourne), sold his paintings in galleries on multiple continents, and logged hundreds of hours on-air as a radio host for SiriusXM. And yet—some folks wonder, “Who the F%@K is Billy Morrison?” Which is the title of a new short film that answers the question. Directed and edited by Mike Savage, it tells his story through punchy editing, candid footage, and new interviews with Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, mixer/engineer/producer Barry Pointer, and Morrison himself. Watch the six-minute documentary HERE.

Q&A WITH BILLY MORRISON 

ABOUT THE “TAKE ME AS I AM” SINGLE AND VIDEO

— “Take Me As I Am” rocks hard with perhaps some of your most vulnerable lyrics. Can you elaborate on the sentiment of the song and what inspired you to write it?

Morrison: Life is a hell of a journey and we are all fallible beings, but we all have the capacity for change. “Take Me As I Am” examines both the concept of change and growth as a human being, and the idea of arriving at a place of acceptance for one another. I believe that as long as we are aware of our faults, and we strive to be a better person tomorrow, then acceptance is one of the most healing attributes we can offer the world. And not understanding the power of judgement can be extremely damaging to others. Having been judged for one thing or another my whole life, finding those people that literally “take me as I am,” that accept me for who I am, and allow mistakes to be part of a learning process, is a wonderful feeling. 

— You play all the instruments on the tracks except drums, making an already very personal song even more of an individual expression. Can you walk us through your mindset for the recording of the song?

Morrison: Imagine if STP had a torrid affair with Oasis, while hanging out at a party thrown by The Cult and watching an Alice In Chains documentary. I don’t really think too hard about the mindset when writing and recording a song, and especially with “Take Me As I Am” it was more a feeling, a vibe. And having the luxury and the ability to play all the instruments just makes it quicker to be honest. I don’t have to sit and argue if it should be E minor or C sharp, hahaha! I just do what I feel, what I hear in my head. Even with the drums, I don’t play the finished thing, I leave that to the professionals…in this case, it’s Erik Eldenius on the kit…but Erik would be the first to tell you that I program exactly what I want to hear from the drums, down to the individual hits, velocities, etc. Drum programming is something I really enjoy, so I spend many hours dialing in the drums and then ask the drummers to play exactly what I wrote! 

— Who directed the video and please let us know what we can look forward to?

Morrison: I have had a photographer, Jane Stuart, working with me throughout both album cycles (the previous album, The Morrison Project, and the new album, Hollow) and her aesthetic and ability to portray me in a way that others fail to capture drew me in. When it came time for the video for “Take Me As I Am,” I asked her if she would consider making her directorial debut for me and she said yes! I literally just said “I have a yellow Lamborghini I want to use, and I’d like to have a black eye in this video,’ and left her to make sense of that within the track. And what a video she came up with, from creative concept to technical execution—she knew what she wanted. The color palate is very specific and the story captures the essence of the lyrics perfectly: a fallible man, learning from mistakes, and trying to make sense of his own shortcomings. The team she put together was fantastic and Jane knocked this one out of the park.