''Sparrow'' is the fourth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Ashley Monroe Ashley Lauren Monroe (born September 10, 1986) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Monroe has released two solo singles, "Satisfied" and "I Don't Want To" (which featured Brooks & Dunn singer Ronnie Dunn), that reached the U.S. '' ...

, released on April 20, 2018, through Warner Bros. Nashville. The album is produced by

Dave Cobb Dave Cobb (born July 9, 1974) is an American record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, best known for producing the work of Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen and Rival Sons . Cobb i ...

and recorded in the iconic

RCA Studio A RCA Studio A is a music recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee built and founded in 1964 by Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Harold Bradley. Originally known simply by the name " RCA Victor Nashville Sound Studios" (or “RCA Studios” for short ...

Background

In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', Monroe said "I knew I wanted to work with Dave; all of his records are consistently awesome and classic, timeless, old and new all in one". Monroe also teamed with notable writer-artists

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Missi ...

and

Waylon Payne Waylon Malloy Payne (born April 5, 1972) is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is the son of the country singer Sammi Smith. Early life Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy ...

, including on the seductive "Wild Love", and with longtime friends

Angaleena Presley Angaleena Loletta McCoy Presley (born September 1, 1976) is an American country music singer-songwriter. She is a member of the country trio Pistol Annies, which was formed in 2011 with Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe, and has released two sol ...

and

Anderson East Michael Cameron Anderson (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Anderson East, is an American musician from Athens, Alabama, who currently is based in Nashville, Tennessee. East's sound is notable for combining R&B, soul, and roots rock ...

, recording the album while pregnant with son Dalton, who was born in August 2017. In a press release to CMT she stated "To me, this record is about acknowledging past hurt, forgiveness and freedom to move forward. The most terrible things that happen to you are the most beautiful songs. That's what I respect most about music." Sonically, Monroe lists

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

-oriented material by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

as influences, particularly for their use of strings. She also mentioned listening to albums by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was i ...

during recording.

Critical reception

''Sparrow'' received widespread acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 86, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called it "sharply constructed as an album, setting a mood with its first song and then finding variations on this lush, enveloping sound." Thierry Côté from ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' concluded his review saying "she has crafted a captivating Southern Gothic country-soul masterpiece, one that can stand proudly next to the timeless works that inspired it. There may not be a better record to come out of Nashville in 2018."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 21 on ''Billboard''s Top Country Albums, selling 4,900 copies in the first week. It has sold 8,000 copies in the United States as of June 2018.

Track listing

Credits adapted from ''Rolling Stone''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

. Musicians * Brian Allen – bass, cello * David Angel – violin * Dave Cobb – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, production * David Davidson – violin * Cris Lacy – A&R * Ashley Monroe – vocals,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

* Waylon Payne – backing vocals * Chris Powell – drums, percussion * Carole Rabinowitz – cello * Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements, viola * Karen Winklemann – violin Technical personnel * Hannah Burton – photography * Gena Johnson – engineering assistance * Mike Moore – art direction, design * Eddie Spear – engineering * Shane Tarleton – creative direction

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Ashley Monroe albums 2018 albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Dave Cobb