Meet the Rising Musician With the Mullet of the Moment

The musician Morgan Saint likes to write songs on her guitar in the shower. It’s where she dreamt up “You,” the first single off her debut EP 17 Hero via Epic Records (out now). Clocking in at just under 18 minutes, it’s a soundtrack that would pair well with any morning beauty ritual: Her vocals are raspy, light, and low; the beat is catchy and uplifting, replete with moments of literal snapping; and her lyrics go deep to deal with love, self-identity, and the past. “I feel so much, I tend to over analyze everything,” Saint says from over the phone in her apartment on Manhattan’s East Side. “But, I am happy a lot of the time, too, so I wanted to combine that pure joy with moments when I’m really down, because we all have them.”

At 23, the recent Parsons graduate, who majored in illustration with a focus on photography and graphic design and thus creatively directs all her album’s visuals, still or moving, admits she has “a look that most people won’t find classically beautiful.” With a ghostly complexion and spritely frame, Saint’s jet black hair, cut into a fringe-y sharp mullet, makes for a striking contrast. Sometimes she’ll wet it, like for her new music video for the song "Glass House,", shot in her hometown of Mattituck, NY, and sometimes she’ll tie it back into a barely-there ponytail—a move that only further accentuates her androgynous silhouette. No matter the style, it’s a far cry from her look growing up when she wore her naturally baby blonde hair long enough to hit the middle of her back. “I almost feel more empowered the weirder I look,” says Saint of the cut that would feel right at home on Netflix's sci-fi favorite Stranger Things or even on the recent Paris runways, as seen in the form of '80s mullets at Off-White and bowl cuts at Balenciaga. “Because, if I can rock any hair cut, and rely on my inner person rather than my physical self, that’s the best. Inner beauty is the most important thing.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean Saint doesn’t love playing with beauty and fashion. A believer in vintage clothes, she says, she pairs her tailored or oversize findings and sharp machete’d chop with a dewy and mostly natural makeup look. Hers is an unexpectedly sweet facade that is made glossy and shiny with products such as Milk Makeup’s Face Gloss, which she uses on her lips, too, and Shimmering Skin Perfector Liquid Highlighter by Becca. “When I get ready, I only think about what I like—not my friends or relatives or coworkers,” she says. Everything else in her makeup bag is either natural or Paraben-free: Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil, Bare Minerals Powdered Foundation, and Hyaluronic Marine Oil-Free Moisture Cushion by Dr. Dennis Gross.

As for other beauty adornments? Tattoos. “I have symbols and numbers and words all over my body that most people don’t know about because they are tiny and hidden and just for me,” she says. To celebrate her EP, Saint made an appointment at West 4 Tattoo to get the word “Hero” atop of her wrist. It will sit right next to her lucky number, 17.