Carly Pearce is set to celebrate her 31st birthday this coming April, but it was in her 29th year of life where she went through some life-changing experiences.
Her 29th year not only included the sudden loss of her dear friend and producer, Busbee, who was succumb to brain cancer but it was also the year when she got married and later made the decision to get a divorce. All of these events lead to inspiring her newest collection of music aptly called, 29.
The collection of tunes finds Pearce at her most vulnerable, being brave enough to put her real life experiences and hurt into songs and share them with the world. The 7-track EP kicked off with a sassy warning statement to the “Next Girl,” which was the first song that the singer released following her very public divorce to fellow country singer, Michael Ray.
As the EP continued, Pearce took listeners to the title track, “29,” a song that takes fans on a journey through one of the toughest years of her entire life, and finds her pouring her heart, hurt and truth into the lyrics.
You can truly hear the emotion in her voice throughout the breathtaking EP but this is especially noted during songs that speak on her breakup including “Liability” and “Messy,” as well as the second track where she admits that she “Should’ve Known Better.”
The collection of songs wraps up with “Show Me Around” and “Day One.” “Show Me Around” is a heart-wrenching track that pays tribute to her late producer and longtime friend Busbee, and finds Pearce speaking to her dear friend in heaven. “Day One” details getting through the difficult first days following a hard breakup while proving that she’s able move on and do better while overcoming the obstacles she encountered.
The true beauty of this project is that not only does Pearce acknowledge the hurt, pain and embarrassment of such a difficult year. But she also tries to take it for what it is, “just a moment that strength, wisdom and good will come from and being happy with that.”
In the end, Pearce says being so vulnerable and so honest on this project was worth the risk, because she says “when the album was finished,” she was proud of herself for coming through such a devastation and loss. Adding, “I think that just in all forms with life and how it’s panned out, I think in the moments where I thought, no you can’t, I left going, yes you can.”
Listen to the new project below.
