New Album Review: Maren Morris- Humble Quest

Maren Morris- Humble Quest

Label: Columbia

Producer: Greg Kurstin

With her first two albums having brought her mainstream country acclaim as well as bona fide smashes on the pop charts, it wouldn’t have been a shock for Maren Morris to go all in on the crossover gambit with her third LP, in the same vein as 90s landmarks like Come On Over or Faith. Conversely, this album is informed by deeply affecting personal milestones over the years that intervened between then and now, including but not limited to: the death of producer and friend, Busbee, the birth of her first child and a subsequent bout with postpartum depression, and of course a global pandemic. The resulting record is Morris’ most reflective and most mature body of work to date, and one that sonically points her back to her formative country-rock sound, very much in the vein of Sheryl Crow in her own 90s heyday. The dusty singer-songwriter vibes of opening track and lead single, “Circles Around This Town” sound as connected to breakout track “My Church” as anything she’s recorded since, while warm steel guitar riffs and folksy guitar sound just as warm and affecting on a cheeky cut like “I Don’t Love You Anymore” as they do on the breezy and contemplative “Detour”. Her roles as a wife and a mother provide equally deep moments like the gorgeous “Hummingbird” and “What Would This World Do”, and comedic bits of levity with the punchy “Tall Guys”. But it’s when Morris wears her well-established, sympathetic but equally weary worldview on her sleeve like on the provoking title track where she reaches her artistic peak to date; a moment where her identity as an artist, celebrity and human being coalesce together in beautiful fashion. It’s the emotional and musical heartbeat of what is her most inspired, well-rounded and wholly realized album thus far.

Track Listing:

1. “Circles Around This Town” (Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins, Julia Michaels, Ryan Hurd)
2. “The Furthest Thing” (Morris, Hurd, Greg Kurstin)
3. “I Can’t Love You Anymore” (Morris, Hurd, Kurstin)
4. “Humble Quest” (Morris, Robbins, Laura Veltz)
5. “Background Music” (Morris, Robbins, Veltz)
6. “Nervous” (Morris, Robbins, Natalie Hemby)
7. “Tall Guys” (Morris, Hemby, Aaron Raitiere)
8. “Detour” (Morris, Kurstin, Veltz, Sarah Aarons)
9. “Hummingbird” (Morris, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
10. “Good Friends” (Morris, Kurstin, Hemby)
11. “What Would This World Do?” (Morris, Hurd, Jon Green)