hummingbird: no rain, no flowers (deluxe)

Carly Pearce’s fourth studio album opens with an admission: “Country music made me do it, and I’ll do it till I die.” The award-winning singer-songwriter goes on to list a string of “its,” including taking it “way too far” and letting “the wrong boy” kiss her. Of course, it’s those very moments that Pearce so deftly documents, establishing herself as a major songwriting force in the genre with her evocative, often gut-wrenching accounts of hard times and heartache. On *hummingbird*, there is no shortage of such moments, though this follow-up to 2021’s *29: Written in Stone* feels sonically lighter and more spacious than its predecessors, a vibe hinted at by the record’s delicate title. Pearce co-produced the LP alongside Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, marking her first time in a producing role. Standouts include “things I don’t chase,” a slow-burn torch song for “the stubborn kind” of man Pearce just “don’t chase,” as well as the head-over-heels infatuation of “trust issues.” Chris Stapleton joins Pearce on the aching duet “we don’t fight anymore,” a ballad about a love whose spark is long burnt out. This deluxe edition adds five new tracks, including two raw, acoustic live performances: “oklahoma” and “things i don’t chase,” both of which Pearce recorded as part of a live series for Vevo. New song “no rain” nods to the deluxe edition’s subtitle, the oft-quoted mantra “No rain, no flowers,” which reminds that life’s more beautiful experiences are often born from hardship. Pearce rounds out the project with two more previously unheard songs, the searching and tender “if looks could kill” and the clear-eyed exploration of new love, “heart first.”