Carly Pearce 29: Written In Stone 2LP (Translucent Green)

Carly Pearce expands her critically acclaimed EP 29 into the full-blown album/song cycle 29: Written In Stone. In classic Carly style, she captures the kind of true Country that's become the bellwether for the two-time ACM and CMA Awards winner, developing the straightforward emotions and classic sounds that have rapidly defined one of the genre's most important voices.

Carly Pearce named her 2021 project - an album teased as a mini-LP in February, then delivered in full as 29: Written in Stone in September - after a tumultuous year in her life, 12 months that saw her get married and divorced and lose her close collaborator busbee to cancer. Pearce found empathetic collaborators in Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, a pair of Nashville heavyweights who help the singer/songwriter process these significant life changes by co-writing a collection of seven songs where she grapples with loss and growth, often in a quiet, introspective fashion. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. With help from Patty Loveless, Pearce sings an effectively gritty tribute to Loretta Lynn, 'You're Drinkin', My Problem' is much more effervescent than the title suggests, while the project's lead single, 'Next Girl,' is a sprightly kiss-off. 'Next Girl' is poppy but in a retro sense - it has none of the bright modern sheen busbee brought to his productions - and it helps set the stage for six keening, searching autobiographical tunes.