ALWYN MORRISON TURNS PAIN INTO POWER AND CONFRONTS HIS DEMONS ON NEW EP TRIAL

Photo Credit: Denice Flores Almendares

Some records offer escape, while others force you to confront what you'd rather ignore. For New York City singer-songwriter Alwyn Morrison, his upcoming sophomore EP, Trial, is firmly in the latter camp.

Arriving October 23 alongside focus track “Monster,” the new release tackles the uncomfortable stuff: betrayal, inherited trauma, self-defense, and the exhausting process of putting yourself back together when everything around you seems determined to pull you apart.

Morrison doesn’t shy away from the messier side of emotional pain. On Trial, he faces these experiences directly, channeling frustration, vulnerability, and the tangled feelings that come with surviving tough relationships and personal struggles into raw, unfiltered rock songs.

Trial has been a long time coming. Morrison started writing the songs in 2023, recording vocals and instruments in both Flint, Michigan, and Los Angeles. By handling much of the process himself, Morrison leaves his fingerprints all over the record, making each track feel unmistakably personal.

Morrison also brought in some heavy hitters behind the scenes. Mixing comes courtesy of Alex Aldi (Goo Goo Dolls, Passion Pit), while mastering is by Nathan Dantzler (sombr, Sabrina Carpenter). Their expertise adds polish without overshadowing Morrison’s own vision.

At the heart of the EP is “Monster,” a song that stands out as a defining moment. With its themes of betrayal, self-preservation, and emotional aftershocks, “Monster” asks a tough question: Who really is the monster—the person who did the harm, or the one shaped by surviving it?

That's the kind of uncomfortable territory Trial explores.

Morrison has already started turning heads, recently receiving recognition as one of Magnetic Magazine's “Bands To Watch” after releasing his debut EP Heartsplit. With Trial, he's looking to build on that momentum while digging further into the personal experiences behind his songwriting.

It’s rare to hear an artist dive into the messier sides of relationships without pretending everything works out in the end. Morrison doesn’t try to tidy up anger, regret, or vulnerability—sometimes they all hit at once, and he lets that complexity show.

Whether Trial lives up to its ambitions will depend on the music, but the idea behind it is strong: turning painful experiences into songs worth hearing.

Alwyn Morrison's sophomore EP Trial arrives October 23, with focus track “Monster” accompanying the release.

TRIAL TRACK LISTING

Puzzle Piece

Everybody Bleeds

Monster

Fireflies

EXCLUSIVE Q&A

“Monster” explores the experience of being judged and made to feel like a “monster” for falling in love with the “wrong person.” What did writing the song allow you to express that you couldn’t necessarily say directly at the time?

“While I was young, my first breakup at 19 felt like going through a divorce after being married for a very long time. I felt so ashamed and guilty for letting my family and friends down that it took years to look back at that time, and at me, with some grace, because I was actually one of the two people going through the breakup and I hadn’t done anything wrong. Disappointing others was not a choice, and it isn’t something I should feel guilty for, but I certainly feel that way. All of my relationships with family members and friends changed at that time, which is pretty wild in retrospect, but it is what it is. When I wrote “Monster,” so much time had passed, but lingering effects of that time remain in my life today, especially when I go back home to visit my family. I wasn’t trying to write any song about that time in my life. It just happened, one night when I was visiting my parents. Sometimes being in a place where something meaningful or traumatic happened brings back a lot of memories, no matter how much time has passed.”

Across the four songs on Trial, you move from the “Charging Document” through the “Pretrial Motion” and “Verdict Form” to the “Final Court Order.” What do you hope listeners understand about your own journey—and perhaps their own lives—by the time they reach the end of the EP? 

“I love this record. It was the most effortless collection of songs that I ever put together. I wasn’t planning on releasing an EP, some of the songs I wasn’t even thinking that I would ever release when I wrote them. But I kept listening to them in this exact order. And things started falling into place. There was more meaning behind it, at least to me, than what I saw at first. I felt betrayed by life; like something had happened to me, or things kept happening to me, that were unfair. And that comes across in some of the music. Other songs completely unlocked that perspective and made me look at things differently, by looking at life in a more universal way or by reflecting on the entirety of my life, from childhood to adulthood. I think it’s okay to feel sorry for yourself sometimes. What I mean by that is that it is normal, almost unavoidable. We all suffer. But there is indeed a light at the end of the darkness. And that is not necessarily something we understand when we are in the midst of it. But there is light and we will see it one day. You can cry to this music, dance to this music, scream it at the top of your lungs. I know I do. I also share my unreleased music with my fans, and the response I got to some of these songs, particularly “Fireflies” and “Monster,” took away any doubt I had about whether or not I should release these songs.”