Trisha Yearwood- The Mirror
Label: MCA
Producers: Trisha Yearwood and Chad Carlson
For three-and-a-half decades, Trisha Yearwood has reigned unrivaled as the best friend a country song could ask for. As the genre’s premier vocalist, she amassed one of the most cherished album catalogs of all time, and did so as a champion for a golden scene of songwriters who graciously supplied her with what would become career classics for both them and her. A well-kept secret however was that Yearwood herself had songwriting aspirations when she first arrived in Nashville in the mid-1980s, but it was a talent she left mostly buried…until now. The Mirror marks Yearwood’s sixteenth studio release, and not only features her first of any co-written material, but comprises only songs with her name in the writing credits. It represents a brave artistic choice, both on par with her lofty reputation, but also risky precisely because of that reputation. Her legacy is secured, and with a catalog that many proclaim as one of the all-time strongest song-for-song, it’s an intimidating bar to aim for with one’s own material. But, unsurprisingly, it’s a high bar that both Yearwood and The Mirror more than clear.
Sonically and vocally, the album is expectedly on-point. Trisha’s physical voice has lost none of its magic luster with time, while her co-production work with Chad Carlson (surprisingly replacing Garth Fundis) strikes that polished but sturdy early 2000s contemporary country sweet-spot that bridged the gap between the genre’s halcyon 90s era and the fall-from-grace 2010s. The real test of this project obviously lies in the songs themselves. And collaborating with past muses like Leslie Satcher, Rebecca Lynn Howard, and Erin Enderlin, as well as next-generation admirers like Sunny Sweeney and Hailey Whitters, Yearwood has this time composed rather that merely assembled a rich body of songs that more than live up to her normal excellence, lyrically, thematically, and of course, narratively. The opening twofer of “Bringing the Angels” and “The Wall or the Way Over” finds her in a tremendously bluesy and broody wheelhouse, while fun up-tempos like “Girls Night In”, “Little Lady”, “Drunk Works” (with Whitters), and “The Shovel” (featuring Jim Lauderdale) remind us of an often-downplayed fun and sassy side. Meanwhile, “So Many Summers” hits a romantic and nostalgic sweet-spot that she mastered long ago, while “Fragile Like A Bomb” is a swampy spitfire that fiercely reinforces the independent feminism that serves as a central theme running throughout the record.
And then there are the truly special moments of the record, those tracks that proudly rank among so many of those classic Trisha gems that have defined her career. The sparkling “The Ocean and the River” is one of the most majestically alluring performances she’s ever crafted. “Goodnight Cruel World” is a timely and stunning reflection on the troubling state of social and political affairs on a global scale, a topic that Yearwood rarely dives into musically, but one that she handles with the peerless grace and humanity that have helped define both her artistic and public persona. The title track dutifully serves as the central title track and thematic anchor of the entire project, a potently poignant conversation of self-acceptance between Yearwood and herself that echoes past glories like 2000’s “Real Live Woman”. Finally, she saves the best and most powerfully wrenching moment for the album’s closer, “When October Settles In”, a gorgeous track inspired by the death of her mother. The sweeping orchestral arrangements, the beautifully solemn imagery of the lyrics, and Yearwood’s teardrop vocal all swell together at precisely the most tender and bittersweet moments, ending one of her most personal artistic projects on a signature high note.
All said, The Mirror is another shining triumph and generous bonus in an already-staggering career that keeps offering new and exciting moments well into its legacy act. And again, Trisha Yearwood’s legacy is one that has been well-secured for some time now. Though we’d have been disappointed, she could have ceased her recording career long ago, and her Hall of Fame destiny would have been unshakable. The fact that she chose to push herself and branch out into a new songwriting realm this deep into her career speaks to her continued creative hunger, and the fact that she pulls it off so marvelously only further solidifies her status as one of the all-time greats.
Track Listing:
- “Bringing the Angels” (Trisha Yearwood, Leslie Satcher, Beth Bernard, Bridgette Tatum)
- “The Wall or the Way Over” (Yearwood, Emma-Lee, Maia Sharp)
- “Little Lady” (Yearwood, Satcher, Tatum)
- “The Mirror” (Yearwood, Satcher, Tatum)
- “Fearless These Days” (Yearwood, Makayla Lynn, Satcher)
- “So Many Summers” (Yearwood, Jim “Moose” Brown, Erin Enderlin)
- “The Record Plays On” featuring Charles Kelley (Yearwood, Chad Carlson, Melissa Fuller)
- “Girls Night In” (Yearwood, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Rachel Thibodeau)
- “Drunk Works” featuring Hailey Whitters (Yearwood, Hailey Whitters, Carlson)
- “Fragile Like A Bomb” (Yearwood, Carlson, Fuller)
- “The Ocean and the River” (Yearwood, Lynn, Satcher)
- “The Shovel” featuring Jim Laurderdale (Yearwood, Matt Rossi, Bobby Terry)
- “When I’m With You” (Yearwood, Satcher, Brett Boyett)
- “Goodnight Cruel World” (Yearwood, Sunny Sweeney, Enderlin)
- “When October Settles In” (Yearwood, Satcher, Steven Dorff)
The 706 
Leave a comment