Enviable collaborations with the likes of Elton John and Joni Mitchell have inspired and elevated Brandi Carlile’s musical profile in the last several years. And at this point, the multi-Grammy award winner could easily coast along via the connections she’s made, putting out more duets and tributes, or songwriting for superstars and legends, like her work with Tanya Tucker. But that’d be too easy.
Before the release of her eighth studio album, Returning to Myself (Interscope/Lost Highway), Carlile summed up her mindset, and it seems she was looking for a new challenge by way of an old approach.
“Why is it heroic to untether, when the tense work of togetherness is so much more interesting?” she wrote in a statement that pulls lyrics from the title track. “Because I don’t want to do it. Because I don’t want to return to myself. And that’s why I will.”
However hyperbolic, it’s honest. The Washington-bred and -based singer-songwriter has nothing to prove in terms of talent and performing chops. Kudos from the music world—along with appearances on talk shows, award shows, and SNL—have made her a pop star, even with fans who aren’t all that familiar with her trajectory in the Americana scene or her early output. But who is she, right now?
However on-the-nose songs like the title track, which opens the record, or its follow up “Human” may be, Carlile’s lyrical earnestness and emotive vocals make them feel personal yet relatable. Still, if this record is really about reclamation or even just reassessment, she sets a pretty straightforward, even basic, tone for most of it, which is surprising considering the diverse producer list: the National’s Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and Andrew Watt (Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars).
Other folksy but slick numbers, such as “A War With Time” and “No One Knows Us,” show off her range and charismatic cadence, as well as her often-exquisite guitar skills. But the choruses themselves, mostly about love in some form, are as lackluster as they are lowkey. Same goes for “You Without Me,” which also appears on her album with Elton, Who Believes in Angels?
What feels like filler in this context will probably come off transcendent on stage—she’s quite incredible live—especially if she plays around with arrangements. The collection overall is cohesive and clean, but not nearly as original or fervent as we’d hope to see as Carlile steps into the studio to show what she’s got at this point in her career.
There are a few bright spots though, and they’re brilliant in different ways. “A Woman Oversees” is a deceptively simple and yet soulful slow burn that recalls a gospel hymn and begs to be replayed, while “Church & State” is a soaring anthem with big rock energy, written the night of the 2024 election. Its apoplectic backdrop is palpable and powerful.
More material in this spirit might’ve added spark, especially as it’s almost a year later and for many, our worst political fears seem to be coming true. Some of her best songs, like “The Joke” and “Hold Out Your Hand” from the 2018 Shooter Jennings-produced By the Way, I Forgive You, tackled social issues with gusto—not unlike Mitchell, one of her biggest influences.
The album’s most poignant track, titled simply, “Joni” is a tribute to the legend that also rises above the rest and conjures the exchanges that likely took place during her Joni Jam series, which Mitchell took part in after recovering from a brain aneurysm a few years prior. The epic events highlighted the magic of playing and making music with others, which has become part of Carlile’s brand at this point, for good reason.
Admitting in her album statement that she didn’t really want to “return to herself” at this point was telling. The push is admirable, but maybe the joy of jamming and togetherness is actually what inspires Carlile most in 2025, and that’s okay. Her gifts remain no matter how she packages them or who she works with, but if she’s hoping to step out of the shadow of her influences, Returning to Myself feels more like a first step than an arrival.
