{"id":6329,"date":"2025-10-30T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/brandi-carlile-returns-to-herself\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:00:00","slug":"brandi-carlile-returns-to-herself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/brandi-carlile-returns-to-herself\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandi Carlile Returns to Herself\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_2Collier-Schorr-e1761830169786.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"784\" alt=\"Brandi Carlile. (Credit: Collier Schorr)\"><figcaption>Brandi Carlile. (Credit: Collier Schorr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Enviable collaborations with the likes of Elton John and Joni Mitchell have inspired and elevated Brandi Carlile\u2019s musical profile in the last several years. And at this point, the multi-Grammy award winner could easily coast along via the connections she\u2019s made, putting out more duets and tributes, or songwriting for superstars and legends, like her work with Tanya Tucker. But that\u2019d be too easy.<\/p>\n<p>Before the release of her eighth studio album,<em> Returning to Myself <\/em>(Interscope\/Lost Highway), Carlile summed up her mindset, and it seems she was looking for a new challenge by way of an old approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/oasis-morning-gloy-singles\/\">Oasis Box Up \u2018Morning Glory\u2019 Singles, \u2018Wonderwall\u2019 Turns 30<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/mumford-and-sons-new-album\/\">Mumford &amp; Sons Confirm Second LP In A Year<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/cameron-crowe-questlove-the-uncool\/\">Cameron Crowe, Questlove Nerd Out At \u2018Uncool\u2019 Book Event<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWhy is it heroic to untether, when the tense work of togetherness is so much more interesting?\u201d she wrote in a statement that pulls lyrics from the title track. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t want to do it. Because I don\u2019t want to return to myself. And that\u2019s why I will.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1197\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_cover5-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-646978\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_cover5-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_cover5-1-340x339.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_cover5-1-768x766.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_cover5-1-498x497.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>However hyperbolic, it\u2019s honest. The Washington-bred and -based singer-songwriter has nothing to prove in terms of talent and performing chops. Kudos from the music world\u2014along with appearances on talk shows, award shows, and <em>SNL<\/em>\u2014have made her a pop star, even with fans who aren\u2019t all that familiar with her trajectory in the Americana scene or her early output. But who is she, <em>right now?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>However on-the-nose songs like the title track, which opens the record, or its follow up \u201cHuman\u201d may be, Carlile\u2019s lyrical earnestness and emotive vocals make them feel personal yet relatable. Still, if this record is really about reclamation or even just reassessment, she sets a pretty straightforward, even basic, tone for most of it, which is surprising considering the diverse producer list: the National\u2019s Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver\u2019s Justin Vernon, and Andrew Watt (Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_3_Phil-McDonald.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Phil McDonald)\" class=\"wp-image-646976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_3_Phil-McDonald.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_3_Phil-McDonald-340x425.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_3_Phil-McDonald-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/brandi_carlile_3_Phil-McDonald-498x623.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Phil McDonald)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Other folksy but slick numbers, such as \u201cA War With Time\u201d and \u201cNo One Knows Us,\u201d show off her range and charismatic cadence, as well as her often-exquisite guitar skills. But the choruses themselves, mostly about love in some form, are as lackluster as they are lowkey. Same goes for \u201cYou Without Me,\u201d which also appears on her album with Elton, <em>Who Believes in Angels?<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What feels like filler in this context will probably come off transcendent on stage\u2014she\u2019s quite incredible live\u2014especially if she plays around with arrangements. The collection overall is cohesive and clean, but not nearly as original or fervent as we\u2019d hope to see as Carlile steps into the studio to show what she\u2019s got at this point in her career.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are a few bright spots though, and they\u2019re brilliant in different ways. \u201cA Woman Oversees\u201d is a deceptively simple and yet soulful slow burn that recalls a gospel hymn and begs to be replayed, while \u201cChurch &amp; State\u201d is a soaring anthem with big rock energy, written the night of the 2024 election. Its apoplectic backdrop is palpable and powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More material in this spirit might\u2019ve added spark, especially as it\u2019s almost a year later and for many, our worst political fears seem to be coming true. Some of her best songs, like \u201cThe Joke\u201d and \u201cHold Out Your Hand\u201d from the 2018 Shooter Jennings-produced <em>By the Way, I Forgive You,<\/em> tackled social issues with gusto\u2014not unlike Mitchell, one of her biggest influences.<\/p>\n<p>The album\u2019s most poignant track, titled simply, \u201cJoni\u201d is a tribute to the legend that also rises above the rest and conjures the exchanges that likely took place during her Joni Jam series, which Mitchell took part in after recovering from a brain aneurysm a few years prior. The epic events highlighted the magic of playing and making music with others, which has become part of Carlile\u2019s brand at this point, for good reason.\u00a0<br \/>Admitting in her album statement that she didn\u2019t really <em>want<\/em> to \u201creturn to herself\u201d at this point was telling. The push is admirable, but maybe the joy of jamming and togetherness is actually what inspires Carlile most in 2025, and that\u2019s okay. Her gifts remain no matter how she packages them or who she works with, but if she\u2019s hoping to step out of the shadow of her influences, <em>Returning to Myself<\/em> feels more like a first step than an arrival.<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brandi Carlile. (Credit: Collier Schorr) Enviable collaborations with the likes of Elton John and Joni Mitchell have inspired and elevated Brandi Carlile\u2019s musical profile in the last several years. And&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4278,24,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brandi-carlisle","category-pushly","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}