If anyone knows The Hard Truth, it’s Wynonna. The country legend has seen it all, having grown up onstage alongside her late mother, Naomi Judd, and built a formidable solo career of her own in the years since. On this first studio album from Wynonna since 2016’s Wynonna & The Big Noise—and her first since Naomi’s passing in 2022—the superstar dispenses her hard-won wisdom with trademark grace, charm and that singular, larger-than-life voice. Ever a lover of the dramatic, Wynonna opens The Hard Truth with a prelude of mournful strings that leads right into “All Downhill from Ashland,” named for her Kentucky hometown. Wynonna addresses her late mother from the jump, laying bare the intergenerational trauma that characterised their turbulent mother-daughter relationship: “You couldn’t love you, so how could you love me?” The War And Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr and Tanya Trotter, also renowned for their vocal pyrotechnics, offer a rich counterpoint for Wynonna to play off, creating a sense of tension and release that suits the painful narrative. The duo joins Wynonna once again on “The Hopeful Lie”, a soulful romp that doesn’t sugarcoat her trials and tribulations but does reach toward redemption, a feeling the three singers infuse into their performances. Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers fame co-wrote and lends his voice to “Everything”, a groovy and laidback reprieve on which Wynonna slyly asserts, “Everything is not OK, but I’m OK with everything.” On that tune and the broader LP, producer (and Wynonna’s husband) Cactus Moser has a knack for letting things breathe, often leaning on more percussive sounds, whether it’s plucky strings or syncopated drums, to accompany Wynonna’s stories. That space is more than filled by her vibrant, sturdy contralto, and the songs benefit from never feeling overstuffed, instead letting the truth ring out.