Brandi Carlile fights memory and meaning on "War With Time"

American singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is back with "A War With Time," the second single from her forthcoming eighth studio album, "Returning To Myself". Co-written by Aaron Dessner of The National and featuring the haunting vocals of Justin Vernon, the track is a poignant meditation on resilience and the inevitable passage of time.

Carlile's ragged and tender vocals rise over Dessner's cinematic production, co-produced by Andrew Watt and Carlile, on which her heartstrings can be heard coming apart. The impression of watching a film reel unspooling in slow motion is the result, the glimpses of youth, the ache of distance, and the quiet beauty of growing into oneself.

That cinematic quality comes alive in every verse, most notably the one she's calling attention to.. It's experienced poetry, as Carlile's journey from small-town beginnings to global stages and the emotional cost of that feat. "A War With Time" is a reckoning. It is Carlile caught in the crossfire of her past and present, guitar strapped to her chest, trying to broker a peace between both.

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