ON THE RISE
There’s a time for looking back. For R&B singer Morgan Taylor, it’s all about moving forward.
In her new R&B single, “Outside That’s PeriodT,” Morgan wants the world to know that “Imma still do me.” And nothing is going to hold her down.
The song starts with what sounds like keyboards recorded backwards, evoking the love she is leaving in the past. But with the first line, the beat drops and she makes it clear that she has no plans of moving backwards herself, singing, “I can say I love you / But I really don’t.”
Morgan explains the song as follows: “Well, ‘Outside That’s PeriodT’ is that 90s early 2000s vibe, nostalgic feeling. It’s about being in the cuffing season in the winter and fall, and then when you hit summer…you outside. By yourself…loving on yourself and doing you.”
Just like “Outside That’s PeriodT” is an anthem for moving on, Morgan Taylor doesn’t like to stay in one place. Based in St. Louis, she recently completed a degree at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. She recorded “Outside That’s PeriodT” at the Atlanta Sound Factory, where she has worked with a production and writing team including Jeremiah Adkins, Amore Jones, Gavin Gray, and Xavier (Eks) Hayes.
Morgan’s rise has been moving at a rapid pace. With a handful of early singles beginning in 2020, Morgan broke through in early 2025 with her debut EP. This concept project traces the arc of a relationship from first spark to heartbreak. It resonated with fans, racking up more than 1.5 million streams.
As those numbers suggest, Morgan’s audience is growing fast. Her YouTube channel alone jumped from just over 300 subscribers to more than 8,500 in the past year. Her fans there praise her throwback R&B sound and powerhouse vocals.
For Morgan Taylor, though, it’s more than numbers. In addition to her deep admiration for classic R&B, including the great singers like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, Morgan sees herself as a voice for her generation. Her songs particularly speak to young women, in a way that is both confessional and empowering.
As Morgan says, “It's about recognizing your own value and having the bravery or the courage to want something better. I want to create a community where young women can celebrate themselves.”
“Outside (That’s PeriodT)” is a teaser for big things coming. The single will be the lead single on a new EP due in early 2026. And with plans for a college tour and live performances in St. Louis and beyond, Morgan is eager to showcase her dynamic voice and performance style, and to make closer contact with her fans.
In other words, Morgan Taylor isn’t just outside, and she isn’t just moving on. She’s moving up.
Stream “Outside (That’s PeriodT)” everywhere now. Follow Morgan Taylor at the links below:
ON THE RISE
Blossoms caught up with NME to discuss competing with The Beatles and Johnny Marr for this week’s Number One album. With ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ in the running, the band also explained why making things themselves remains such an important part of their work as AI becomes more common.
The Stockport group put out their sixth album last Friday, October 2. By the midweek update, it was sitting at Number Two, between The Beatles’ expanded edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ and Johnny Marr’s latest solo album, ‘The Age Of Everything’.
“It’s mad, to be honest,” singer Tom Ogden said to NME about the chart race. “Liverpool on one side, Manchester on the other and Stockport in the middle. If you’d told us this 10 years ago, when we were releasing our debut, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I mean, we’re in good company aren’t we?”
Discussing the stories behind the album, Ogden described ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ as “about being married and all the everyday stuff that comes with it”. He married Katie Donovan, the sister of Blossoms drummer Joe, in 2021. Married life has since given him a new appreciation for what he describes as “the extraordinary ordinary”.
“Saying the wrong thing in an argument, losing your wife’s no claims bonus, crying at the Kardashians, it’s all in there,” he explained. “The album is named after Stockport Town Hall, which everyone round where we live calls the Wedding Cake, and it’s where I got married, so it couldn’t be much closer to home.
“The last album [‘Gary’, 2024] had a song about a stolen fibreglass gorilla, which everyone loved, and that gave us the confidence to bring the same playfulness to this one, just with more personal subject matter this time.”
Alongside tracks that came out of writing sessions with Declan McKenna in a hot tub, the album reflects the band’s desire to stay involved in every part of the creative process.
“It started with the recording,” Ogden explained. “We made the album with Shawn Lee, playing live straight to tape, and once you’ve done it that way you can’t really go and fake everything else. We sat down as a band and picked the colour palette, and everything visual followed from that. We had body scans taken of ourselves and cake toppers of the five of us 3D printed, put them on a real cake and photographed it. I’ve directed and edited the videos, and the sets are all built by hand, no green screen. For the pop-up shop on launch weekend, a local artist hand-painted the album cover for the sign outside.
“It’s more work, but you end up with a world that’s yours, and I think people can tell when a band’s had its hands on everything.”
With AI tools and digital effects becoming increasingly widespread, that approach feels particularly relevant. For Blossoms, though, the motivation is simple: “the fun is in the making”.
“Tape doesn’t let you cheat and neither does a real cake,” Ogden said. “If a set’s a bit wonky, it’s because one of us or our mates built it. I think the more stuff gets generated, the more people want to know a human being actually did it. We’ve been in this band together for over 10 years, five lads from Stockport, and that isn’t something you can ‘prompt’.”
Maya Jama also appeared in the video for the album’s first single, ‘Meet Me In Love’. Her appearance came shortly before the UK launch of Celebrity Traitors, where she took on the role of a traitor alongside a cast that included Richard E Grant and James Acaster.
“She was brilliant,” Ogden recalled of working with Jama. “We’d met her at the MTV EMAs in Manchester a couple of years ago, so we took a chance and sent her a DM …and she said yes. Next thing she’s in a theatre in Cheadle miming my vocals while a load of people dressed as me serenade her. She got the idea straight away and was a proper laugh about it.”
The conversation then turned to whether he thought Jama could take home the win on Celebrity Traitors.
Ogden joked: “As for Traitors, she spent a whole day pretending to sing my song and I almost believed her, so I’d say she’s got every chance.”
Fans can listen to ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ now. In November, Blossoms head out on a UK arena tour with The Royston Club. Tickets and further details are available here.
Before the tour begins, the group is also scheduled to appear on SNL UK on Saturday, October 24.
