29: Written In Stone (Video Deluxe)

Written in the wake of her divorce from another country artist, Carly Pearce’s seven-track EP 29 was released to significant critical and commercial acclaim, notching a coveted 2021 CMA Album of the Year nomination and likely contributing to her June 2021 induction into the Grand Ole Opry. With 29: Written in Stone, Pearce expands the project’s scope, retaining the heartbreak and honesty that made it so beloved while also sharing some of the wisdom and strength she’s gleaned by living and surviving those very stories. “I just want people, no matter what they’re going through in their lives, to know they can listen to this album and see that even when you have to go straight through it, you can overcome it,” Pearce tells Apple Music.

The original EP, including hits like “Next Girl” and “Should’ve Known Better,” features on the collection, along with eight new tracks as well as three videos, including a live performance of the title track. Standouts include the multigenerational heartbreak anthem “Dear Miss Loretta” and the album’s closer, “Mean It This Time,” which offers a measured, hard-earned approach to moving on after heartbreak. Below, Pearce walks Apple Music through several key tracks on 29: Written in Stone.

“Diamondback”
“I want people to start the album knowing that I’m strong and in a good place. I think those whimsical fairy-tale fiddles really set up the image of what happened to me over the last year and a half. So I felt like, sonically, it was a good opener. We had such a good time making this album, and writing this song in particular, because I was at a place where I felt I could be a little sassy and write from strength.”

“Dear Miss Loretta”
“I’ve always loved Loretta [Lynn]. I grew up in Kentucky and was always into her music, but I think when so many things happened to me I realized just how much we had in common as far as really understanding the way she wrote her songs and understanding the magnitude of them. I wanted to write kind of a letter to her, even though I’ve never met her, just showing the similarities we have and how I now understand why she wrote the way that she did.”

“Next Girl”
“I think that was the one that, sonically, happened and I knew it was the direction that I wanted to go for the album, as far as that true ’90s sound, which I hadn’t heard from any female who’s out there right now. I felt like we were tapping into truly what Patty Loveless would do in 2021, or 2020, I guess. I feel like that song, in particular, really encouraged me to walk into my roots and was the starting place for the album.”

“29”
“That song, I had the idea while walking around during quarantine where my parents live. I knew I wanted to write a song called ‘29’—the year I got married and divorced—and I knew that I wanted it to be the title of the album. So I feel like this was an idea that was in my hand that I was nervous to make, in reality, but it really gave the blueprint for how vulnerable I could really go in my music.”

“Your Drinkin’, My Problem”
“I feel like some of my favorite ’90s country songs—‘Neon Moon’ by Brooks & Dunn, ‘Blame It on Your Heart’ by Patty Loveless—they had such a sad lyric but they felt so good. And this is a similar thing. This is a jam, but if you listen to the lyrics, it’s awful. It’s this tale of someone dealing with someone who’s not ready to face their demons and how it’s really affecting you way more than it is the other person.”

“Mean It This Time”
“What I really want people to take away from the album is that I am hopeful and not a scorned woman and not bitter and not feeling like love is never going to happen, and that I really desire all of those things and feel like I deserve them. That was my prayer for the future, that people can end this chapter knowing that I’m hopeful for what’s to come.”