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.
On the eve of the 2020 presidential election, when it looked like Joe Biden could defeat Donald Trump by holding the Blue Wall and flipping some reliably red states, Jason Isbell took to Twitter:
“If Biden wins Georgia I’m gonna make a charity covers album of my favorite Georgia songs- REM, Gladys Knight, Vic Chesnutt, Allmans, Cat Power, Precious Bryant, Now It’s Overhead, etc… And damn is that gonna be fun.”
June 2 is a big day for releases by favorite artists of mine whom I haven’t heard from in awhile. In addition to the Ben Folds album I wrote about on Monday, Rufus Wainwright is dropping his latest studio album.
Wainwright has been more prolific than Folds, though three of his releases over the past decade were the sort of side projects I don’t get very excited about (an opera, a collection of Shakespearean sonnets set to music, and his second recreation of a Judy Garland live performance). I never got into the 2020 pop album Unfollow the Rules, though, which should have been right up my alley. I owe that one another listen.
The New York Times
‘Both Sides Now’ would have made a perfect closing song for Mitchell’s set, but she decided to end with another of her wistful hits, ‘The Circle Game.’ Accompanied by both her fellow musicians and the crowd, Mitchell sang her ode to the fleeting beauty of childhood.
The New York Times
Now here’s the moment from Mitchell’s appearance that was worth the price of admission all by itself. Mitchell tackles ‘Both Sides Now,’ one of her greatest songs, in a beautiful, moving performance that makes wonderful use of the lower register she has developed after a lot of cigarettes and a lot of time.
