Big Machine Label Group
Release Date: June 7th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Carly Pearce– hummingbird (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Country Music Made Me Do It
- Truck On Fire
- Still Blue
- Heels Over Head
- We Don’t Fight Anymore (feat. Chris Stapleton)
- Rock Paper Scissors
- Oklahoma
- My Place
- Things I Don’t Chase
- Woman To Woman
- Fault Line
- Pretty Please
- Trust Issues
- Hummingbird
The past few years, especially the years of 2020 and 2021, has been difficult for many of us, for obvious reasons inclusive of COVID-19. However, for me, while lockdown was indeed a challenge and something that I needed to adjust to; what I did find was my musical tastes expanding beyond the confines of CCM and worship. Not that Christian music is bad, but if you limit God to only speaking through the obvious overt melodies about and to Jesus… then I guess you’ll miss out on all of the ways God chooses to speak to us via different avenues. I wrote a blog about God speaking to us through unexpected ways a while ago; yet over the past few years, I found myself drawn to different genres of music apart from CCM, and in particular the country music genre. Admittedly though, it’s only been since 2021 (3 years ago!) that I’ve been immersed the most in the genre of country music- as a site we’ve blogged about many, many, country artists, and many more still to go!; and Carly Pearce’s 2021 full length studio album 29: Written In Stone reinforces my idea of country music being one of the most honest and vulnerable genres ever… and quite possibly one of the most underrated genres as well!
In 2020, I reviewed Carly’s self-titled sophomore album, and at the time, I didn’t know a thing about Carly, her upbringing, how she got into music, her backstory, her musical influences and everything else that Wikipedia tells us. And as of right now I’m still not across everything Carly related. Yet with me being introduced to Carly’s music in the strangest way (via a YouTube recommendation!); I was reintroduced to Carly again this year through Matthew West’s song “Truth Be Told”. Jon reviewed that song; and then I restarted reacquainting myself with Carly’s music. 29 was the EP that I decided to listen to… and boy is it a tearjerker and an emotional album that probably none of us are prepared for! In 2021, Carly continued on with her songwriting to extend her 29 EP into a full length album 29: Written In Stone, reviewed here. Fast forward until now, and Carly is back with a brand new album- the 14-track honest, emotional and personal hummingbird. Though in the past we’ve reviewed predominately Christian albums; just take a read of our reviews now! We’ve branched out of late somewhat (cause I’m now of the belief that God can and will use anything to glorify His name and for our good!); and now let’s dive in to hear what Carly has to say about life, love, loss and everything else in between, in quite potentially one of the most impacting country albums of the year, alongside Tenille Arts’ to be honest.
With 29: Written In Stone being Carly emphasising about what she believed was wrong with her brief relationship with her ex-husband; this more positive and optimistic project details the start of her journey out of that pit of despair and self-pity and into healing, revitalisation, and rejuvenation. Opening with “Country Music Made Me Do It”, the fiddle prominent melody is Carly’s jovial and celebratory response to everything that has occurred in her life thus far- either positive or negative; where Carly now sees that country music ‘made’ her act irrational and ‘made’ her act out in ways she wouldn’t normally, but it is also country music that helped her through heartbreak, loss and all of the other things that parents and family and friends normally would have. It’s an apt opener that speaks about realising where the blame lies in how you act in a certain situation, and owning your own stuff. “Truck On Fire”, a country/pop/rock anthem inspired by the nursery rhyme of “liar liar pants on fire”, is next, and highlights the moment one finds out that their partner is cheating, and the emotions that come with that and the active decision they decide to make to rid themselves of toxic people in their lives; while the empowering and traditional country-like “Still Blue” dives into the specifics that Carly is now over her ex and is seeing someone new and is happy about it, that ‘…the sky was still blue after you left, sun still rose, sun still set, and I went out on the town with no regrets, in my Levi jeans, still blue, thinkin’ your world was my world too, thinkin’ forever I’d be hung up on you, well, it’s not your fault, if that’s what you thought, but honey, I’m not still blue…’.
The rest of hummingbird is a similar vein to the first three tracks- with Carly’s no-nonsense sass and charisma breaking through many tracks, while still being honest. Earnest, vulnerable and incredibly honest. “Heels Over Head”, a sassy, fun and no-nonsense melody about the ‘next girl’ after Carly being more obsessed with her shoes (hence the ‘heels’) rather than the guy, is a firm reminder that sometimes women can see through the daft and idiotic plans of men and can see some men for who they really are; while “We Don’t Fight Anymore” is a powerful duet with Chris Stapleton, where Carly recounts that at one point, both she and her husband were apathetic towards each other, and thus they were too tired and too indifferent and lukewarm with each other to even fight and argue. It’s at this point where I think you may as well call the marriage over, despite your initial want and need to save it; and that’s exactly what Carly did- end something that was irreparably broken. It’s a shame that Chris is once again relegated to backing vocals (maybe it’s something he actively wants to do- not be in the spotlight if it’s not his own song; but there’s no denying his presence here elevates the melody to probably one of the most haunting and poignant of the entire album. “Rock Paper Scissors” also does a play on the age-old children’s game, and then twists it around for the benefit of country music- and in this case, Carly dives deeper into the circumstances surrounding the breakdown of her marriage, and sings about the reality and the fact that her marriage did break down and sometimes events in life just happen and there’s nothing you can do about it; while the album’s first ‘true’ ballad is “Oklahoma”, where Carly outlines that she is still reeling from her divorce, and is still not ok and is feeling raw and emotional about it all (and that feeling is absolutely ok as well!): I loved so many ’90s female country songs, and some of those were just moments to me. “A Little Past Little Rock” from Leanne Womack was a moment. “Cowboy Take Me Away” from The Chicks was a moment. I just feel like “oklahoma” has the same sentiment, and I think this represents the fact that sometimes a relationship shouldn’t continue, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. And I think that’s sometimes an even harder place to be — that place of knowing it’s not great, but you just aren’t really ready to move on from it.
“My Place” is a vulnerable, emotional and honest electric guitar led slow-tempo ballad and Carly finally accepting that her ex has moved on from her, and that ‘…it ain’t my place to question if there’s someone fillin’ my space, ain’t my business tryna picture four-by-sixes with her in ’em, if she does things that I didn’t, wonderin’ what the hell I’m wonderin’ for, it ain’t my place ’cause it ain’t my place anymore…’; while “Things I Don’t Chase” highlights the notion that Carly doesn’t chase men who don’t want her anyway: this is the only song on the album that I didn’t write. I was in a cab in New York, and I was listening to some songs that I was sent, and this one just stopped me in my tracks. I think what I’ve learned over the last few years is that I know what my fans need to hear, and I know what they’re going through. We’re kind of all going through this at the same time, and I really needed to be reminded at this point that if someone wants to leave, let them. I feel like my fans need to know that, especially if they’re younger and going to experience love, just do not chase somebody. “Woman To Woman”, the spiritual sequel to “Next Girl” from 29: Written In Stone, is Carly’s piece of sage advice towards women who are in toxic and unhealthy relationships with men who don’t treat them with respect and dignity; while the harrowing and hard-hitting “Fault Line” highlights the pattern that people fall into in a relationship where they’re not good for each other but are in a relationship nonetheless- each of them walking on a fault line and on eggshells around each other.
“Pretty Please”, a cry of desperation and want and need, speaks about the extreme need of adulation that people feel they need and deserve (particularly young women) when they are told by people around them who may or may not love them that they’re pretty and are beautiful (which may or may not be true, but people accept as gospel and at face value anyway!); while “Trust Issues” speaks about the moment Carly overcame her trust issues, as she sings about the first relationship she had since her divorce. And though that relationship didn’t last, the song she wrote that was borne out of that spoke volumes, and taught her to open her heart up again because of the possibility of finding something beautiful and real and true. hummingbird then ends with the title track, which sums up the entire heartbeat of the album: “hummingbird” is my little artistic moment of meshing my bluegrass background with country, and it’s just a poetic way of saying that I’m not going to settle. I know who I am. It’s funny — I wrote this song, and then I started to look into the meaning of a hummingbird, and that changed the whole plan for the album, because I realized that hummingbirds are a sign that the healing process can begin and that good luck is on the way. That felt like the only sentiment that was meant for this album.
I’ve always thought I had to know about the artist inside and out before I enjoy an album of theirs. But Carly Pearce and her country/pop/bluegrass/acoustic sensibilities have proved me wrong. One of the most unique voices and musicalities I’ve heard in country music thus far (it’s Martina McBride meets Lady A meets Gabby Barrett meets The Chicks in my own honest opinion!); Carly Pearce reminds us that sometimes in the quiet, sometimes in the waiting and sometimes in the silence of lockdown, a gem can be found. 29: Written In Stone is an emotional album that speaks about the fragility of relationships yet also about the healing Jesus brings and the healing time brings from a situation. Some of us may not be in relationships at the moment, but 29: Written In Stone is needed so that we can be content in our own skin while God prepares our hearts for the person He has in store for us. The same goes for hummingbird as I firmly believe that this project- and all of it’s vulnerable topics and complexities, is one of the most dynamic and complete albums of the year. And now, I really don’t think I need to say anything more. So well done Carly, for a thoroughly enjoyable set of new songs, and songs that certainly make us think!
5 songs to listen to: We Don’t Fight Anymore, Oklahoma, My Place, Pretty Please, Hummingbird
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Martina McBride, The Chicks, Faith Hill, Lady A, Gabby Barrett, Colbie Caillat, Jana Kramer, Little Big Town