I have my own moral code, my own moral imperative, that I have to answer to at the end of the day, as a wife and mother, and I believe in my ability and responsibility to do this, and that's why I'm here,
Just before casting my vote in the 2024 election in my hometown in South Carolina, I turned on Brandi Carlile's "The Joke" from her album By the Way I Forgive You, which was written in the aftermath of Donald Trump's 2016 win. I needed to listen to it before I went into the voting booth. Carlile's soaring vocals and poignant lyrics about hope in the face of persecution comforted me as I pulled into the parking lot of a former Walmart turned megachurch that served as my polling station. I parked my Subaru and cried, singing along between quiet sobs.
The title of Brandi Carlile's latest record, , makes an encouraging first impression. What could possibly be bad about reclaiming selfhood? Isn't that a pop psychology milestone people make guest appearances on daytime talk shows to humble brag about? But Returning to Myself considers the implicit woe of its own declaration: in order to return to oneself, one must first be lost. It's a common existential crisis that worsens when pop culture primes audiences for inspiration instead of reality checks.
Brandi Carlile has mapped out a 2026 tour, with stints in North America, the UK, and Europe. The trek kicks off in February 2026 and arrives in support of Carlile's forthcoming album, Returning to Myself. Billed as "The Human Tour," the run will see Carlile performing in arenas throughout the US and Canada in February and March. She'll commence the run with a concert in Philadelphia on February 10th, followed by shows in Boston, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and more.
