's 2021 album opens with "Simple," a song about the pleasures of good conversation, spending time with family, and the ordinary things that make the days worthwhile. It's the sort of tune that could have appeared on any number of country albums from the 1970s onward, but here it sounds different -- coming from an artist who has been watching a world in chaos from the vantage point of her home during lockdown, there's a sense of longing that borders on need, a gentle desperation for the world to return to something familiar. 's previous album had the poor fortune of being released in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting down a big part of the music business, and was written after her touring was canceled and she was pondering a busted romance without welcome distractions. It's fitting that is a simpler and more intimate work than and 2017's , and the country accents are stronger, with warm melodies carrying the tunes and steel guitars and organ frequently adding atmosphere. Classic country songs were often founded on the stuff of ordinary lives, and that's clearly the case with this music, but the deliberately rough edges of "Peach" and "Gem" touch on the universal themes of post-breakup tension and malaise, and while "Ride" and "Been" are prettier on the surface, the ambient, atmospheric sounds that float in the background feel like ghosts in the room, reminding us of the frustration and anxieties that come with brooding over a life that's not going your way. and producer (who also plays drums on the sessions) have crafted an album that's straightforward but not simple. is full of the strong emotional honesty that's been one of 's trademarks, whether she's singing about things happy or hurtful. The open spaces in these performances only add to the clarity, and her vocals are as incisive as her lyrics. doesn't always sound like the album might have cut under ordinary circumstances, but it comes from the heart and speaks to the time and place in which it was made. It's a compelling, generous work from a songwriter who grows a bit each time she heads into the studio. ~ Mark Deming