There are times on Brandi Carlile’s new album, Returning to Myself, where she is comfortably easing into the material, and other times where one can almost sense the challenges of new sounds and the influence of three different producers. The latter is that ‘the air is out of the balloon’ feeling that runs through the title track and several others. When set in the context of Carlile’s high-profile collaborations over the past four years, reviving Joni Mitchell’s career, making a record with her hero, Elton John, and several other endeavors, it makes sense. She found herself alone, in Hudson Valley, New York, a place she had never been before, working with producer Aaron Dessner for the first time. She hadn’t written many songs and only had notes, a poem, and a vision for challenging herself with new sounds. The album was developed not only with Dessner, but with producer Andrew Watt, who co-produced the album with Elton John, Who Believes in Angels. Watt and Dessner had never met, so Carlile had to foster a cooperative working relationship. A third producer, Justin Vernon, stepped in for a couple of tracks.
Unlike previous Carlile albums, keyboards, synths, and effects are present. Carlile has long been inspired by Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, a strong singer prevailing against an entirely new musical backdrop. That doesn’t mean she left her trusted collaborators behind. Longtime bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth are here along with Sista Strings (Monique and Chauntee Ross) as well as a host of frequent collaborators. The theme of the album, as suggested by the title, is fighting transitions.
That same title track opens, based on the poem she wrote after the final night of “Joni Jams” at the Hollywood Bowl. She’s pondering what it means to feel alone after experiencing so much togetherness and generosity of spirit. This verse stands out – “Let me break myself apart/Instead and scatter to my birds/Like a burial at seaTo be the gospel without word.” Those feelings quickly dissipate, though, with the charged-up “HUMAN.” The song was reworked several times, with Vernon’s production ideas (the choir effect) bringing it to fruition. It’s about retaining one’s humanity in the face of adversity. Aptly, she wrote the song on November 4th, the day of the fateful Presidential Election.
“A Woman Oversees” features jazz-like electric pianos and an ethereal backdrop wherein the choir becomes Carlile’s layered vocals. In some respects, it evokes her mentor, Joni Mitchell’s jazz recordings, as she sings about vulnerability traps set by someone who refuses to be vulnerable. There’s a distinct sense of yearning in “War with Time,” that feeling of knowing someone has to go but wanting them to stay. Vernon sings background vocals and adds a brimming piano. Carlile shuns her trademark powerhouse vocals in the inventively arranged “Anniversary,” emblematic of the kind of melancholy she felt while recording. By contrast, she revs up for “Church and State,” written on November 5, 2024. A full-on rocker is a shock to the listener as it is arguably overproduced. As the yin and yang go, “Joni” is quiet, rendered in the style of her mentor and praising Mitchell’s wild side.
The acoustic guitar-driven “You Without Me’ features another inventive layered vocal arrangement in a tune from the collaboration with Elton John, who, along with Bernie Taupin, helped Carlilie write it about her child becoming herself. Like some of the other songs, it poses questions – “…Time makes everyone of us an absolute cliché/But when I met you face to face, none of it was true/So who am I if I’m not you?”
Shared secrets between closet friends drive “No One Knows Us.” Like the title track, there’s a Mary Chapin Carpenter vibe to the closer, “A Long Goodbye,” about appreciating the moment, knowing everything can change in a blink. The well-decorated singer-songwriter is well past the point of trying to prove anything. Yet, it’s refreshing to see Carlile embracing new approaches. And, of course, it’s beautifully and articulately rendered.
