Maren Morris is on a humble quest. Following the groundbreaking success of debut studio album HERO in 2016, then followed up by the crossover and commercial success of her second studio album GIRL in 2019, there has been much anticipation of what Morris will do next. This became evident with the release of her third studio album Humble Quest, which was released on March 25. This collection of 11 songs chronicles what life has been like for the country-pop singer-songwriter over the past few years: through the pandemic, becoming a mother, career successes, and the unexpected loss of her former producer Busbee. Following the success of the genre-crossing hit with Zedd, “The Middle”, as well as the success of her own single, “The Bones”, there has been a lot of questions as to whether or not this country singer has any intention of staying in her lane. However, Maren has returned to the country music scene with a more organic, introspective approach to her music on this record. 

The opening track, “Circle Around This Town,” was released back in January as the lead single and quickly broke Amazon Music’s record for most streams for a country song by a female artist, and also happens to be in the top 20 spots and climbing on the country radio charts. Written by Morris, her husband and fellow country singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd, and pop sensation Julia Michaels, the track recounts the story of Morris’s move to Nashville. “Swear I don’t know how I trusted a Montero with the AC busted, couple of bad demos on a burnt CD, would take me all the way to Tennessee,” she sings in the first verse. A special moment on this track that really caught my attention was how she references the songs that helped put her foot in the door at the end of the second verse: “Couple hundred songs and the ones that finally worked, was the one about a car and the one about a church.” Here she is referencing the songs “My Church” and “80s Mercedes” from the HERO album. This track is still one of my favorites and feels like a confident, exciting anthem to kick off the Humble Quest era.

The next two tracks, “The Furthest Thing” and “I Can’t Love You Anymore” are love songs where Morris further explores the layers and growth between her and her husband. Hurd provides background vocals on “The Furthest Thing,” and both of their vocals really shine together with the stripped back production. “I Can’t Love You Anymore” is probably the track that has grown on me the most, and gives off upbeat country/almost bluegrass vibes in its production. The title track, “Humble Quest,” is another one of my favorites. It’s a lot more introspective than anything else Morris has done, which I’m glad for, as I feel like that was something that was missing on previous album GIRL. “I haven’t look up in a while, been biting my tongue behind a smile,” she proclaims at the beginning of the song, which Morris revealed she wrote about finding the humility in the span of her career. My favorite line is probably what starts out the second verse, where she is trying to find the line between “fulfilled and full of myself.” 

“Background Music” is a romantic ode to loving someone until you run out of time. “You and I, can dance our way through it, and I’ll love you until all that we are is background music,” Morris sings in the chorus. I thought the concept for this song was really cool and something I hadn’t heard/thought about before. “Nervous” is probably the most intriguing song on this album: it showcases Morris completely out of her comfort zone (both lyrically and sonically) and reminded me of 90s grunge rock. The lyrics are really clever and fun too. The final track, “What Would This World Do?” pays tribute to Morris’s late producer, Busbee, who passed away last year due to brain cancer. Morris revealed in an interview that the song was written just days before he passed, and that you can hear the rawness in her vocals in the recording. This song was really good too, but is definitely very emotional, so be prepared. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this album, but it definitely took a few listens for it all to really sink in. I think Maren Morris is probably the most confident on this album that we have seen in a long time—-if ever—-and instead of focusing on commercial success, now that she’s made it, was able to dive in deeper and make an album she really wanted to make.

Favorite Tracks: “Circles Around This Town,” “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” “Humble Quest,” “Nervous,” “Good Friends”

Score: 8/10