Caroline Spence w/ Mary Bragg

The fourth album from Caroline Spence, True North opens on a track named for the late poet Mary Oliver, its lyrics embedded with an emphatic statement of intent: “I don’t wanna put my pain on a pedestal/Wrap it up and sell it to you at the record store/I know we all feel the same; I’m just a little louder.” Over the course of 12 resplendent tracks, the Nashville-based artist makes good on that refusal to exalt or commodify her own experience, and instead reaches for a far more magnanimous exploration of grief, growth, and the endless complexities of human nature. The result is a body of work that affirms Spence as a truly incomparable songwriter, reinforcing her profound capacity to pack so much insight into songs that illuminate and mesmerize.