Bear Creek by Brandi Carlile

Bear Creek, Brandi Carlile's fourth studio album, came out on Columbia on June 5, 2012, and it takes its name from Bear Creek Studio, where most of it was cut. Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker produced, and she lets the room do a lot of the work: this sounds like a band playing together rather than a singer-songwriter polished to a gleam.

That suits Carlile, who has always drifted between folk rock, alt-country, Americana and plain classic rock without much concern for which bin she lands in. "That Wasn't Me" is the heart of it, a slow burner where her voice climbs from a hush to a full-throated cry, and "Hard Way Home" kicks up its heels with a rootsier, rambling stride. Five years after "The Story" first brought her wider notice, this is the sound of an artist settling into her own skin.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.