Carly Pearce- Hummingbird
Label: Big Machine
Producers: Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
In classic country music fashion, the worst year of Carly Pearce’s personal life manifested itself into her greatest professional moment to date with 2021’s superb 29: Written In Stone, a gorgeously raw account of a young marriage’s collapse that elevated both her commercial and artistic status to the country A-list. On its long-awaited follow-up, Hummingbird, Pearce reunites with her go-to producers and core co-writers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, and the trio doubles down on both the thematic and sonic make-up of 29. In terms of subject matter, this record is a continued journey through personal healing, heartbreak, and eventual recovery. Musically, it finds Pearce fully embracing her role as one of the leaders in the genre’s ever-rising class of purists, leaning even further into an organic tapestry of neo-traditional and bluegrass elements. This quickly proves that previous successes were anything but flukes; Pearce positively soars in this realm of classic country romance and heartache. That’s not to stay that she takes things too seriously either, as this record is littered with snappy slices of joy and down-home wit, from the hilariously dirty “Heels Over Head” and coy “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to the exuberant genre-flag carrying “Country Music Made Me Do It” and the surefire revenge hit, “Truck on Fire”. Her greatest calling card however continues to be her affinity for contemporary country torch, from the hit Chris Stapleton feature, “We Don’t Fight Anymore” and the grassy title track to the lush “Still Blue” and devastating centerpiece, “Fault Line”. Meanwhile, great cuts like “Oklahoma” and “Things I Don’t Chase” remind us that her somber work is no less potently clever than her sassier pieces. While it’s true that some critics will accuse Hummingbird of holding-pattern tendencies for its similarities to 29, they should really be championing Pearce for her impressive ability to carry forth the greatness of one record through to the next. This is artistic consistency at work here, not complacency. Carly Pearce is unquestionably flourishing in her now-confirmed roles as one of Nashville’s rare album-artists, and a steadfast leader in the mainstream scene’s long-overdue era of roots revivalism.
Track Listing
- “Country Music Made Me Do It” (Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
- “Truck on Fire” (Pearce, Charles Kelley, Justin Ebach)
- “Still Blue” (Pearce, Osborne, Natalie Hemby)
- “Heels Over Head” (Pearce, McAnally, Osborne)
- “We Don’t Fight Anymore” featuring Chris Stapleton (Pearce, McAnally, Osborne)
- “Rock Paper Scissors” (Pearce, McAnally, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds)
- “Oklahoma” (Pearce, Galyon, Reynolds)
- “My Place” (Pearce, Reynolds, Lauren Hungate)
- “Things I Don’t Chase” (Robyn Dell’Unto, Kat Higgins, Ava Supplesa)
- “Woman to Woman” (Pearce, Hungate, Tofer Brown)
- “Fault Line” (Pearce, McAnally, Galyon, Reynolds)
- “Pretty Please” (Pearce, McAnally, Osborne)
- “Trust Issues” (Pearce, Galyon, Reynolds)
- “Hummingbird” (Pearce, McAnally, Galyon, Reynolds)
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