The Country music tea has been hot with a clear rise in songs and albums surrounding divorce. With artists on both sides of the relationships, fans are more invested than ever and vulnerability is at an all time high.
LISTEN NOW: New York Times’ ‘Podcast’ dives into Country divorce albums
New York Times’ Popcast host, Jon Caramanica, welcomed Marissa R. Moss, author of Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be, for an open conversation surrounding the recent uptick in divorce albums — in particularly from the women of the genre — and how they’re being received.
Country music has no shortage of break-up anthems and farewell ballads, but Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce and Kacey Musgraves kicked things up a notch by releasing full albums surrounding their personal experiences with divorce and left no detail under wraps.
“In recent years, kind of before this period of records, women were kind of encouraged to write safe songs,” Moss shared giving the example of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.”
The women listed above showcase vulnerability at an all-time high and according to Moss, have processed not only a divorce from their former partners, but also expectations from the Country genre.
“There’s so many divorces that women in Country music have to make to be themselves and find themselves both personally and musically,” Moss expressed. “Often that’s divorce from their spouse, there’s a divorce from the expectations and the pressures to play within this very specific box. There’s a divorce from the public perception of how things went down and whether or not they want to answer to that.”
Hear Moss and Caramanica break down each of the above artists divorce albums in detail as well as discuss the men’s side of things, how the fans get involved, and more on the Popcast episode above.
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