Music legend Sheryl Crow has just released her brand new album, 'Evolution', after previously referring to albums as 'a dying art form'.
In 2019, Crow reportedly released what fans thought was her last album, "Thread,". She said at that time that, "I still think it's a waste of time and money! People don't listen to records as a full body of work, but I had all these songs that felt very timely."
Now, Crow seems to have changed her mind, to the delight of fans, with the release of 'Evolution', out Friday.
"I know, I know, I can't count on what's going to come out of my mouth next," she backpedaled to Morning Edition host Debbie Elliott. "I didn't intend to put out an entire full-length album. It still feels like a playlist of new songs. So that's what I'm going to call it: a playlist of new songs by Sheryl Crow. How's that?"
Crow had the following to say when asked about the inspirational push behind the new album.
"It really started off with this in-depth conversation about A.I. and what that's going to mean, not only for artists but what it's going to mean for our humanity. I think it was the advent of the Beatles using John Lennon, and then shortly after that, George Carlin being used with a new comedy routine that somebody wrote and used his likeness."
"It felt very, very dangerous and very daunting to me as an artist to know that my voice can be inserted into someone else's work, and that a program can write a Sheryl Crow song. But it's deeper than that. It's really about truth and about how do we discern what the truth is anymore and are we even interested in the truth? That's where - as a mom who has lived through most of her life without technology - this is where mom and artist intersect. I found that I was just writing an artistic download that culminated with me putting out these new songs."
On the song "Broken Record", Crow is critical of social media and the problems that arise from it.
"That song was really in response to the hate that I got from speaking up about the Covenant shooting, which was right down the street from us in Nashville," said Crow. "I think because of texting and social media, we've gotten away from this idea of empathy, that we have to remember that the words we say - whether you know a person or you don't - can be hurtful. All things should be based in intention. My intention is something as simple as: gun control isn't for the government to come in and take away people's guns. My intention is to try and find a way to make our kids safer. And instead of acknowledging intention, there's a lot of 'Shut the f*** up and sing.' I mean, just some really ugly things. And so the song really is directed from something my mom told me when I was a kid: "It's just as easy to be nice as it is to be a jerk."
Rolling Stone calls "Evolution" retro Sheryl Crow."It would be easy to be cynical about it, but Crow's return has an added bonus. Ditching the occasionally somber tone of some of her later records, she seems to have rediscovered the glories of a classic Sheryl Crow record."
"Evolution" is out now and available wherever music is sold.
