Article Contributed by SRO
Published on October 17, 2025
Brandi Carlile’s powerful new song, “Church & State,” is out today — listen/share HERE.
Carlile shares, “Written and sung on November 5, 2024, after 11pm. The only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. I wouldn’t dare dodge either one of those things. One thing I know for sure is that we will all be dependent physically and esoterically on the young people that we dump our insanity onto. We crawl twice in our lives. With any luck in our infancy, we’re lifted into loving arms. Who will lift us up when we’ve grown old and burned the whole world down? Not the ones left to sort through the ashes. Let the violent hands be lifted by their religion.”
The third song unveiled from her highly anticipated new album, Returning To Myself, “Church & State” was written by Carlile, Andrew Watt, and Carlile’s longtime bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth.
Her eighth studio album and first solo project in four years, Returning To Myself finds the 11x GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter looking inward, reflecting backward, and ultimately, returning home after spending the last few years pouring herself into collaborations with musical icons and legends. Out next Friday, October 24, on Interscope Records/Lost Highway (pre-order), the album was produced by Carlile, Watt, Aaron Dessner, and Justin Vernon, and features ten songs including the title track and “A War with Time,” which debuted last week alongside an acoustic performance video filmed on Carlile’s fishing boat at Whidbey Island, WA — watch HERE.
In addition to Carlile, Watt, Dessner, Vernon, and the Hanseroths, the album features SistaStrings (Monique and Chauntee Ross), Josh Klinghoffer, Chad Smith, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Mackay, Rob Moose, Blake Mills, Mark Isham, and Stewart Cole.
Carlile is an Oscar-nominated and 11x GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, performer, and producer; 2x EMMY Award-winning composer, lyricist, and writer; #1 New York Times Bestselling author; and activist, known as one of music’s most respected voices. Throughout her acclaimed career, she has released eight studio albums including her most recent, Who Believes in Angels? — the universally acclaimed collaboration with her childhood hero, Elton John — which debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. and top 10 in the U.S.
Additionally, Carlile continues her work as a renowned producer, with recent GRAMMY-winning projects from Joni Mitchell and Brandy Clark. She also produced and recorded a rendition of Indigo Girls’ “Closer To Fine” with her wife, Catherine, for Barbie The Album, as well as a version of “Home” featured in the final season of Ted Lasso. She received her first Oscar nomination in the Original Song category in January 2025 for “Never Too Late,” a track written alongside Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and Andrew Watt for the Disney+ documentary of the same name about Elton’s life and career.
Beloved by her peers, Carlile has collaborated with artists such as The Highwomen, Soundgarden, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys, Hozier, Noah Kahan, Jacob Collier, P!nk, and Dolly Parton. She was named OUT Magazine’s 2023 “Icon of the Year,” awarded Billboard’s Women In Music “Trailblazer Award,” CMT’s Next Women of Country “Impact Award,” and NMPA’s 2023 Songwriter Icon Award, and has received multiple honors from the Americana Music Association.
On top of being a musician and writer, Carlile is the founder of the Looking Out Foundation, which has raised over $8 million for grassroots causes to date. She lives in rural Washington State with her wife and two daughters, Evangeline and Elijah.
Returning To Myself Tracklist:
Returning To Myself
Human
A Woman Oversees
A War With Time
Anniversary
Church & State
Joni
You Without Me
No One Knows Us
A Long Goodbye
