Carly Pearce 'Honest Woman' Album Review
Carly Pearce returns to her country and bluegrass roots on Honest Woman.
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Nikki Blackburn
August 28th 2026
There’s something rather fitting about Carly Pearce calling her fifth studio album Honest Woman. Few artists in country music have built quite so much of their identity around simply telling it like it is, and on this record, Pearce seems more comfortable than ever doing exactly that.
After the heartbreak and healing of 29: Written in Stone, followed by the slightly more polished and contemporary feel of hummingbird, Honest Woman feels like Carly going back to the beginning. Back to the music that made her fall in love with country in the first place. Back to the sounds that shaped who she is.
And, actually, it's a vibe that really suits her.
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Pearce has spoken about rediscovering why she wanted to become a country singer in the first place, with classic country and bluegrass once again playing a huge part in the fabric of this record. You can hear it throughout, but what I particularly like is that it never feels like she’s trying too hard to remind us that she’s “country”. She doesn’t need to. She’s been doing this for years, and she's now finally seeing the recognition she deserves.
There’s a warmth running through Honest Woman that makes it incredibly easy to settle into. Carly’s voice has always been one of her biggest strengths, but there’s a maturity to it here that really stands out. She knows when to go big, but some of the album’s best moments come when she pulls things back and lets the songs do the talking.
Dream Come True is a great example of that, setting the tone for what follows, while Church Girl and You Can Have Him bring some of the personality and attitude that have become such a big part of Carly’s appeal. And thank goodness for a little sass along the way, because there’s plenty of introspection elsewhere on the record.
Happy For Myself is another standout. It moves beyond the familiar territory of romantic heartbreak and instead taps into something much more universal; that slightly uncomfortable feeling of watching everyone around you seemingly reach the milestones they want while wondering when your own turn is coming.
It’s vulnerable without feeling self-indulgent, which is quite a difficult line to walk.
The collaborations are well judged too. If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay with Riley Green brings a completely different energy to the album, while What If You Loved Me with Molly Tuttle and Dan Tyminski feels like a particularly natural fit given the bluegrass influence running through the record. Who’s Lying Here, meanwhile, gives Tyminski another opportunity to complement Pearce’s storytelling without ever overshadowing it.
If I had one very minor criticism, it’s that Honest Woman can occasionally feel a little too consistent. There’s not a huge amount of variation from one track to the next, and for some casual listeners, that may make the 16-song running time feel a little long. But equally, there's so many positives to take from this project that I don't think any country music fan wouldn't be able to find something they really love within this record.
This isn’t an album where Carly Pearce is desperately trying to give us a different version of herself every few minutes; it feels much more like she’s finally comfortable with exactly who she is, and perhaps that’s what makes Honest Woman such an enjoyable listen. Pearce has spent years proving that she belongs in country music, and this record - I think - is her statement that she's no longer looking to prove a damn thing to anyone other than herself.
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