Brittney Spencer is ready to prove it

Like most singers new in town, Brittney Spencer spent most of her first decade in Nashville paying dues. He's been hitting the road, singing backup for Carrie Underwood, and creating a space for challenging songwriting in the city's Christian-worship-music community. Then, in 2020, in the wake of measuring country music against its long history of racial exclusion, Spencer uploaded a viral acoustic cover of Highwomen's “Crowded Table.” Since then, she's opened for Willie Nelson and Megan Thee Stallion, performed at the CMAs, and even joined Highwomen, the group whose song started it all.

But until my stupid life A debut country record that is sure to cement Spencer's place in the genre, all this apparent stardom was untested. The album takes a few songs to find its footing, but once it does, My stupid life takes off and soars: It's hard to think of a stronger run on a country LP in recent memory than the five-song stretch that begins with the self-recovery ballad “The Last Time” and ends with the tender heartbreak of “If You Say So. “Vows of love and microwave toaster,” he sings of the faltering new marriage in the latter, “can't bear our weight right now.”

Spencer traverses a mix of muscular pop rock, textured soul and anthemic singalong pop, all grounded in an agnostic country that brings to mind Maren Morris' landmark album Hero. (Morris, one of Spencer's top champions, looms large here, adding vocals to one song, name-calling to another.) Spencer assembled an ace crew to showcase her versatile voice and sharp writing, including producer Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour). The result is a record unfettered by the need to constantly prove its Nashville bona fides, and in doing so ends up being one of the most compelling country statements in some time.

My stupid life is a deftly told collection of stories that, like her “Crowded Table” cover, simmer with subtext. Beneath the sweet sheen in these songs about flirting and flirting lie layers of meaning: Beneath the hoodie-wearing house party odes in 'Night In' lies the menace of 'drunk boys mumbling 'I can buy you a drink' ?” Love. The story of “My First Rodeo” also works as a parable of a singer who has spent years being ignored in a town that hands out opportunities like coupons. Then there's the acoustic closer, “Reaching Out,” a song about striving for honesty when things go wrong. “This world is full of stories that look a lot like mine,” Spencer sings in a whisper. It took too long, but thank God she finally got the chance to tell them.