Brandi Carlile is sharing a few details about her upcoming new album, ‘The Firewatcher’s Daughter.’
The record, which will be released on March 3 on indie label ATO Records, was recorded almost entirely from first takes, with very little rehearsal time.
“We took SO many different approaches in the studio and the lead-up to it,” Carlile explains to NPR. “I’d say the biggest shift that resulted in us really rocking had to do with the fact that we didn’t make any demos. To me, rock ‘n’ roll isn’t really a genre but more of recklessness or a risk … The more something gets ironed out and sure of itself, the less it begins to rock somehow.”
Carlile and her band, the Twins, sold out much of her recent Unplugged Tour, which she performed without microphones or amps.
“I found myself totally mesmerized by what can happen when you invite the room into a song like that,” she explains. “The only people who get to hear the part that the history of these rooms can play in a performance are the artists that show up before the speakers come on.”

Brandi Carlile’s second release, <i>The Story</i>, clearly announces the arrival of a big talent. Her songwriting is accomplished, ambitious, and unabashedly emotional, and she puts it across with her huge voice—clear, strong, and passionate. Tastefully produced by T-Bone Burnett, the overall sound is spacious and warm, with subtle ambient touches added for extra texture. Even the relatively stripped-down tunes like “Josephine” and “Downpour” come across as lushly layered. She also rocks several powerchord anthems, particularly the fist-pumping title track, on which she kicks into vocal overdrive for one of the album’s more memorable and intense moments.

Some of the greatest albums of all time were born from artists reaching their breaking points. Bruce Springsteen got so frustrated making Born to Run that he threw the tapes into a swimming pool out of anger. The Dark Side of the Moon was the product of Syd Barrett’s declining mental health and eventual departure from Pink Floyd. And Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was created during a time when the band, to put it mildly, was going through a series of internal romantic conflicts.While I don’t think the new Brandi Carlile/Elton John studio record Who Believes In Angels? will achieve the same legendary status as the aforementioned classics, it’s quite great, with a lot of drama behind the scenes. (Spoiler! Elton John, according to the behind-the-scenes video, almost quits).