Brandi Carlile - Returning To Myself (Commentary Album) (2025) [Hi-Res]

Review by Marcy Donelson

In the four years between the release of her seventh solo album and this, her eighth, Brandi Carlile won no less than five Grammy Awards, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, put out an album with Elton John, appeared on an expanded edition of the Barbie movie soundtrack, produced music for artists including Joni Mitchell, Brandy Clark, Tanya Tucker, and Lucius, and contributed to two "Joni Jams" at the Hollywood Bowl -- just to name a few highlights. This may help explain the relatively intimate nature -- and title -- of Returning to Myself. The album took seed the day after the second Hollywood Bowl concert in October 2024, when an emotional Carlile flew to Aaron Dessner's home and studio in upstate New York for a meeting she thought might result in writing a song or two. He gave her some music, left her alone in his furnished barn, and, away from her wife, kids, and multitude of collaborators, she unexpectedly proceeded to write the self-examining lyrics for the opening song and title track to her next LP. The resulting album is a personal, especially reflective one that notably features quieter, tenderer vocal performances from Carlile, something that was intentional, as was the embrace of more keyboard instruments than usual for her. Produced by Carlile, Dessner, Andrew Watt (in Hollywood), and with help from Justin Vernon, it includes the use of a Moog synthesizer that belonged to David Bowie, tools like reverb and delay, and influence in general from the 1990s of Carlile's adolescence, which she said was "haunting me" at this time. That title track sets an intimate stage, beginning as a searching, lilting acoustic guitar song that eventually adds spacey electronics, then bolder electric guitar textures, as she appreciates the fleetingness of life and love. In fact, much of the album serves as a love letter to her wife, with a song like "A Long Goodbye" mentioning their children by name and including sentiments like "I only had to lose my way to be found by you." Hushed songs like these are occasionally contrasted by tracks like "Human," a lush, soaring rock song that involved all four producers together, and the driving, raucous "Church & State," likely the closest thing to a post-punk song Carlile has ever done. The vast majority of Returning to Myself, however, is contemplative, wistfully melodic, and rooted in a bolstered folk sensibility, such as on "Joni," a song that features lucent vocal harmonies. With its comparatively restrained approach only reasserting Carlile's gifts as a confident, compassionate, and sympathetic communicator, Returning to Myself offers an equally compelling edition of the musician that may appeal to new, less country-inclined fans.