I did a Brandi Carlile Deep Dive in 2021 and already knew she was a new favorite. She released the wonderful In These Silent Days later that year, which I gave a track-by-track assessment.

I’m not sure why I wasn’t quick to jump on 2025’s Returning to Myself, Carlile’s eighth studio album and one of her best. I listened to it at the time and immediately loved it, but I didn’t return to it very often and neglected to cover it on the site.

Returning to Myself came out after a tumultuous and successful four years for Carlile, a period in which she won multiple Grammys, collaborated with Elton John on an Oscar-nominated song, and became the Joni Mitchell whisperer — encouraging the legend to participate in informal living room jam sessions and later to perform live at the Newport Folk Festival (her first public performance since a 2015 brain aneurysm).

All that attention and proximity to celebrity was head-spinning for Carlile, who spends most of her time living in a secluded cabin with her wife in rural Washington State. On this album, she processes all of it, writing candidly about her fear and ambition and about the people she loves most in the world.

“Returning to myself is such a lonely thing to do,” she sings on the title track, “but it’s the only thing to do.”

Returning to herself means digging into her relationships with her wife, her children, and her friends. On ‘You Without Me,’ she explores the bittersweet feeling of watching your kids become themselves by becoming a little less yours. ‘A War with Time’ mines the same territory, its chorus ending with these powerful words:

The anthemic ‘Human’ also feels like a message to her children. It explores the idea that every generation feels like it’s the end of the world, but that you have to split your time between fighting back and actually enjoying the only life you’ll ever have.

Other songs find Carlile looking back at her early life, at a young woman who didn’t ride in a plane until she was an adult. That’s the same woman who can now write a song called ‘Joni,’ in which she lovingly describes the wild experience of calling Joni Mitchell a friend.

Musically, Returning to Myself stretches beyond Carlile’s usual Americana style, incorporating far more keyboards and employing a team of producers to deliver a sound reminiscent of the 90s indie artists she grew up loving. It’s a nice evolution that expands her sound without abandoning what makes it hers.

Carlile is a humble, self-made artist with an all-time great voice and songwriting chops to match, one who has found tremendous success without compromising her integrity or her vision. Returning to Myself is the latest chapter in a story that keeps getting better.

🎵 Part of the Brandi Carlile Deep Dive 🎵
This post is part of my exploration of Brandi Carlile’s studio catalog.
→ Return to the Brandi Carlile Deep Dive
→ Track-by-track assessment of In These Silent Days