Nobody's Girl

This ninth studio album from Amanda Shires follows a particularly tumultuous period in the acclaimed singer-songwriter/fiddler’s life. *Nobody’s Girl* was written and recorded in the wake of her very public divorce from fellow musician and former bandmate Jason Isbell, and the resulting songs take stock of the raw early days of her journey to healing. Produced by friend and collaborator Lawrence Rothman (Blondshell, Bartees Strange), *Nobody’s Girl* opens with an instrumental invocation, with a particularly mournful fiddle performance from Shires that sets the tone for the complex emotions to follow. “A Way It Goes” offers a painful, revealing glimpse at the dissolution of her marriage, which she describes with trademark poeticism and no shortage of vulnerability: “I could show you a real shattering/A bird flown into a glass window collapsing.” “The Details” is stark and cutting, with lyrical Easter eggs that point to Isbell, including a nod to his fan-favorite 2013 track “Cover Me Up,” which he wrote about Shires. While there is plenty of ache on the album, there is also hope, like on “Living,” where she acknowledges that “perfect conditions don’t exist,” and closing track “Not Feeling Anything,” which still carries the considerable weight of grief but acknowledges the silver linings of independence and starting over.

The songwriter and fiddle player’s latest record comes after her divorce from fellow Americana artist Jason Isbell. Comprising mostly ballads, the album is emotionally profound but musically narrow.

Amanda Shires' divorce album focuses on rebuilding her life and standing up for herself rather than settling scores.

With the lyrically direct and musically bisected Nobody’s Girl, Amanda Shires tells her side of the story of her divorce from Jason Isbell.