Megan Moroney recently showered fans in Athens, Georgia, with the color pink when she threw a pop-up event at Raising Cane’s, all in celebration of her new era and upcoming third studio album, Cloud 9, set to arrive on February 20, 2026 via Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records.
At this particular restaurant, which she frequented as a University of Georgia college student, Moroney met with fans, worked a “shift” behind the counter alongside Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves, and answered questions, giving folks some insight into what they can expect from her highly-anticipated next project, and follow-up to previous albums, the Gold-certified sophomore project, Am I Okay?, And her debut, Lucky.
Already, listeners have gotten early previews of Cloud 9, with the release of songs like the tender-hearted “Beautiful Things” and the confidently sassy post-breakup anthem “6 Months Later.” Sharing more information on the upcoming project, with Music Mayhem, Moroney detailed a few highlights, one of which finds her stepping into the strongest and most self-assured version of herself yet.
Moroney describes the project as a reflection of growth, with the feeling that her feet are firmly planted in her artistry as both a songwriter and performer.
“It was really fun to create music where I’m just like this version of myself,” she shared. “On ‘Lucky’ and ‘Girl in the Mirror,’ I was questioning my worth… but now, with songs like ‘Beautiful Things,’ I feel like I’ve lived enough life and grown up enough, and I’m qualified to tell myself, ‘You are worth it.’ And I feel qualified to tell other people that too.”
Though Cloud 9 is undeniably bold, the 28-year-old singer/songwriter says the album carries a softness unlike anything in her previous work. That duality of being both soft yet strong is what inspired the project’s pink color palette.
“Once you get to listen, you’ll understand that there’s a softness to this album that hasn’t been in my other albums, which is why I thought pink would be a great color. It’s definitely like a hot pink, still strong and empowering, but there is a softness to a lot of the lyrics,” Moroney explains. “I think that comes with the confidence I’ve grown inside me over the past however many months that I’ve made this album.… knowing it’s okay to be soft. You don’t always have to be on guard.”
As with the Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records artist’s previous collections, songs on Cloud 9 come from real experiences, including Moroney’s time navigating the music industry. She also shares that she wanted Cloud 9 to be out “as soon as possible,” but was strategic about letting it breathe, choosing a February release because “I didn’t want to get in the way of people’s Christmas albums.”
“I know everyone likes to listen to Christmas music, so I figured I’d wait till the new year,” she laughed before hinting. “And I’ve got more surprises coming.”
Among those surprises are collaborations. Moroney noted that she released a few duets in the past for the deluxe version of her Lucky album, notably with Kameron Marlowe on “Fix You Too” and Mackenzie Carpenter on “Nothin’ Crazy.” But with limited features, she emphasizes, the new project includes a variety of both male and female artists, marking a new era of creative partnership.
As for the album’s title, Moroney shares that the notes app on her phone — a place she jokingly calls “a scary space” — is where she stores useful information for her future projects. “It’ll be like eggs, milk, and then Cloud 9, only I know what that means,” Moroney said. “But when it comes to me, I just write it down.”
The Georgia native admitted, however, that for a long time, the phrase Cloud 9 didn’t align with the identity she felt pressured to uphold.
“I feel like I’m the Emo Cowgirl,” she reasoned. “So writing a song called ‘Cloud 9’ was not the vibes. But once I finally let go of what people think about me — I talk about confidence a lot — I just feel like so myself and I don’t really care what people think about me anymore… Once I got into a place where I was truly happy, I felt like I could write that song, and yeah, it’s a happy song.”
Spending time at her alma mater in Athens was both humbling and nostalgic for Moroney as she was able to sit back and see how far she had come since working her way up the ladder in her music career. A full-circle moment, the artist, who has earned six nominations heading into the 2025 CMA Awards, felt like she was on “Cloud 9” while writing the songs in The Bahamas for her forthcoming release.
“To be able to even work in The Bahamas, that was something where it’s like, ‘Wow, this is like, I’m not sure it gets better than this.’ And I think back to when I’m writing songs in the sorority house, ‘How did I get from there to here? I’m in The Bahamas, just singing my third album.’ It’s very humbling, and it was really cool to be able to go on the boat in the morning and at 6:00 p.m. I’m like, ‘Okay, fine, I’ll do both.’ That’s amazing.”
Unlike her previous offerings, this time, Moroney allowed herself time to dig deep into her creative mindset. She allowed the music to unfold naturally instead of rushing the process. “If we sit down one day, and it’s just not good, sometimes it just doesn’t come, and I don’t like forcing it,” she shared. “There were weekends in the East Tennessee mountains where we wrote five songs, another weekend with three. It just happened so naturally.”
For the first time, she had more than a year and a half to build out a project, which gave her time to rest, reset, and reconnect with herself. “I intentionally made sure that I did things for myself,” Moroney said. “I really took time for myself in this era. Being by the ocean just calms me.”
As she prepares to share Cloud 9 with the world in February, Moroney is settling in, having successfully wrapped her history-making headlining, Am I Okay? Tour, which concluded earlier this year. Fans can look for Moroney later this week when she delivers a rendition of “6 Months Later” at the upcoming 59th Annual CMA Awards, which air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8/7c on ABC.
