It's been nearly three years since Carrie Underwood released her last album, Storyteller, to the world. The fifth complete disc from the singer, Storyteller was a country music smash, earning a Platinum certification from its one million copies sold and a CMA award nomination for Album of the Year. Not to mention, Underwood returned to those fiesty, female-empowering anthems with fresh singles like "Dirty Laundry" and "Church Bells." She's spent much of the last few years touring around the world, with her three year-old toddler Isaiah in tow. In 2016 alone, Underwood played for more than 1 million fans on an ambitious stadium tour that carried her anywhere from the Staples Center in Los Angeles to performing alongside Keith Urban on a stage in Australia.
Even with all of the glamor and success, Underwood has had her fair share of struggles in the last year. Shortly after a record-breaking tenth year as co-host of Nashville's most prestigious award show, the CMAs, she slipped outside at home while walking her two dogs. The end result was a serious injury to her arm and face that required immediate surgery. Underwood then spent a handful of months hiding out from the public, feeling self-conscious about the scar that was now visible just above her lip.
However, even from pain, beauty can arise. Following the incident Underwood crafted her newest single, "Cry Pretty", which is currently moving up the top ten of the country charts. Bravely debuting the song at the ACMs in Las Vegas this year, Underwood not only revealed new music - she announced that her sixth album will be released through her new record label, UMG Nashville, on September 14.
"We have a lot of songs on there that are definitely emotional and kind of soulful and real and raw,” Underwood recently quipped about the new album. “There’s so much love and care and heart that has gone into writing these songs."
As with any new project, the superstar rolled out a wave of promotional appearances, performing the tear-inducing new single for fans at several different venues scattered across the States. Although Underwood hasn't revealed many details about her new music, fans can expect a switchup from her past work, as she is now completely in creative control of her brand, having co-produced Cry Pretty with a new friend, David Garcia, and co-written its lead single with three other women: Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey. Now in the thirteenth year of her international stardom, Underwood can safely branch out from the days of "Jesus, Take the Wheel" - even though she hardly has reason to, considering the song won her a Grammy and went to the top of the charts back in 2006.
However, as rosy as Underwood's career has been, the last thirteen years probably had many moments of frustration. Although the issue has improved somewhat during the last five years, women have a difficult time landing significant playtime on the country airwaves, usually squashed in between handfuls of male artists. Having come to the format at a time when blond, beautiful country singers were a dime a dozen, Underwood had to find a way to make herself stand out and shed the green persona she developed during her time on American Idol. She did so in an astonishing way: by combining sentimental, religious-themed ballads that showcased her big voice, and moody, sometimes murderous tunes about the no-good men of the world. Underwood's brand seems to be equal-parts angel and woman scorned, capable of burying a man and showing up to church the next day. The duality of her songs sometimes earned criticism from certain music reviewers, who found her albums too bombastic and varied. However, Underwood's fans don't seem to have a preference for whichever persona she chooses to convey in a song: "See You Again" was just as successful as its predecessor, the unequivocally dark "Two Black Cadilacs", and the pop-dabbling Play On sold just as many copies as the countrified Carnival Ride.
How Underwood changes up that musical image with Cry Pretty remains to be seen, but with artists like Maren Morris and Bebe Rhexa finding crossover success across multiple genres, the time to experiment has never been better.
