Brandi Carlile
★★★★★
Returning To Myself
INTERSCOPE/LOST HIGHWAY. CD/DL/LP
Eleven-times Grammy winner’s eighth studio album.
Earlier this year, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile was singing and touring with Elton John behind their hit album Who Believes In Angels? (2025) – one of a number of collaborations she’s undertaken in recent years that include those remarkable shows with Joni Mitchell. As the title suggests, this is a solo album – her first since In These Silent Days, four years ago. And it’s a real beauty: 10 stunning songs, many of them on the slow, pensive side. The album starts and ends with two of its sparser songs – squeaky acoustic guitar strings on the title track; the heart-aching harmony on closer A LongGoodbye. There’s a fine story-telling country song (No-one Knows Us); a dramatic rocker (Church & State) – and songs whose piano and multiple harmonies feel like church (You Without Me; Joni) . But it never sounds less than gorgeous. Sylvie Simmons