FIRST TRACK “BITTER ENDER” OUT TODAY
5x Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and performer Mary Chapin Carpenter will release her anticipated new album Personal History on June 6 via Lambent Light/Thirty Tigers (pre-order: https://orcd.co/personalhistory-eu).
In advance of the release, the album song “Bitter Ender” is out today – Lyric Video
Carpenter’s 17th album, Personal History was produced by Bonny Light Horseman’s Josh Kaufman(Bob Weir, The National) and recorded live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath, England. Across the eleven tracks, Carpenter presents a set of songs more autobiographical than any collection that has come before.
Carpenter shares, “A novel that I’ve loved for years is My Name is Lucy Barton, written by Elizabeth Strout. There’s this moment where the main character is taking a creative writing course, and her teacher says to her, ‘You will only have one story. You will write your one story in many ways.’ I remember reading that line and taking an audible breath. In that moment, I said out loud to no one, ‘Oh, that’s what the songs are.’”
One of music’s “most reliable and empathetic songwriters” (Pitchfork), Carpenter has sold over 17 million records over the course of her renowned career. With hits like “Down At The Twist And Shout” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” she has won five Grammy Awards (with 18 nominations), two CMA Awards, two ACM Awards, is one of only twenty-two female members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the 2023 ACM Honors Poet’s Award.
Carpenter’s last solo recording, 2021’s One Night Lonely (Live), was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards—exactly 30 years after her very first nomination. A rare solo performance, the album was recorded at Virginia’s legendary Wolf Trap and features songs from across her acclaimed career, including from her last solo studio album, The Dirt And The Stars.
Most recently, Carpenter released Looking For The Thread, a collaborative album with legendary Scottish folk stars and songwriters Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis. Released to widespread praise, Folk Alleydescribes it as, “a set of warm, introspective, and stunningly gorgeous songs…It’s beauty and warmth touch our souls deeply, and each song is a many faceted gem of love and hope,” while Music Row calls the project “enchanting” and The Arts Desk declares, “It’s only January but this is an album of the year…a class act, heartfelt and beautifully crafted.”
In addition to her work as a musician, last autumn Carpenter unveiled her new podcast, “Hope is a Muscle,” which finds her in conversation with people from all walks of life including Joan Baez, Adriene Mishler, John Darnielle and U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin. During its run, the podcast was in the top five music podcasts on both Apple and Spotify Platforms. Previously, in 2020, Carpenter released the three-part audio liner notes podcast, “One Story,” with American poet, Sarah Kay.
On the heels of the album’s release, Carpenter will join forces with fellow Grammy Award-winning artist and songwriter, Brandy Clark, for a special tour this summer and autumn in the US.
More details atwww.marychapincarpenter.com
PERSONAL HISTORY TRACK LISTING
1. What Did You Miss
2. Paint + Turpentine
3. New Religion
4. Girl And Her Dog
5. The Saving Things
6. Hello My Name Is
7. Bitter Ender
8. The Night We Never Met
9. Home Is A Song (feat. Anäis Mitchell)
10. Say It Anyway
11. Coda
