“Church and State” by Brandi Carlile

"Church and State" is part of Returning to Myself, the eighth studio album Brandi Carlile released on October 24, 2025, through Interscope and Lost Highway. It was her first album of her own since In These Silent Days, after a detour spent writing and recording with Elton John that produced their joint album Who Believes in Angels? earlier that year.

She wrote it with Phil and Tim Hanseroth and Andrew Watt, and Watt, who co-produced it with her, is all over the track: electric and acoustic guitar, bass, synthesizer, plus a share of the engineering. Tim Hanseroth adds electric guitar, Josh Klinghoffer plays piano and synth, Matt Chamberlain handles drums and percussion, and Carlile sings lead and stacks her own backing vocals. Serban Ghenea mixed it, on a record critics admired for its searching, spiritual lyrics.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.