Let’s put our tinfoil hats on for this one.
As everyone knows by now, Morgan Wallen surprise dropped his fourth and final single of the year, “Smile” last night just in time for New Year’s. Though the song had been teased since August, the “Last Night” singer dropped the track completely out of the blue with zero promotion ahead of time.
Along with the brand new song, Wallen also dropped a music video to go with it, featuring none other than Barstool podcaster and comedian, Caleb Pressley, who recently collaborated with Wallen on a Ryl Tea ad back in August.
Directed by Justin Clough, who has shot nearly all of Wallen’s past projects including the “Cover Me Up” short film, the music video depicts the 31-year-old singer/songwriter preparing for a late-night show hosted by Pressley. Fittingly set on New Year’s Eve, Wallen is set to perform his recent #1 hit, “Love Somebody,” before going off script and singing “Smile” instead with the song’s post-break-up storyline being directly reflected in the music video’s narrative.
When you take a closer look at the music video, more specifically Pressley’s desk, you’ll clearly see that the name of the fictional late-night show’s name is Dark Til Daylight.
You’re probably thinking, “What does a made-up talk show name have to do with the name of Wallen’s new album?” I don’t blame you for wondering, but hear me out.
If you take a look at ASCAP and BMI’s ACE Repertory, a database that contains both released and unreleased tracks written by songwriters, you’ll see that there is, in fact, a song yet to be released also titled, “Dark Til Daylight.”
This, on its own, would mean absolutely nothing. I mean, surely, there’s a song out there that shares the same exact name, right?
However, “Dark Til Daylight” is written by not one but three of Wallen’s co-writers. Rocky Block Hyatt penned “Smile” (along with the Eric Church duet, “Man Made A Bar”) while Jimmy Robbins and Chris Tompkins appear as co-writers on Wallen’s recent #1 hit, “Lies Lies Lies.”
While this isn’t definitely saying that the title of Wallen’s fourth studio album is named Dark Til Daylight, all of these details seem much too connected for it to be a coincidence.