Sheryl Crow originally intended the 2019 collaborative album Threads to be her last, but just four years later, a Peter Gabriel song inspired her to return to the studio. Gabriel’s song “Digging in the Dirt” and its themes of self-examination resonated with Crow, who brought a demo cover of it to producer Mike Elizondo. That song and nine original tracks make up Crow’s new album, Evolution.
The singer-songwriter’s twelfth studio album mostly sounds like 2000s-era Crow with some contemporary flourishes in the production. Crow’s diverse vocals are still solid, ranging from country twang to soulful croon and saccharine pop.
Not surprisingly, the song that started it all is a standout on the album. The chorus in Crow’s cover of Gabriel’s “Digging in the Dirt” hits a bit harder, but for the most part, she kept the song the same, with Gabriel’s slick guitar grooves and dance percussion. Gabriel even duets with Crow on the track.
Of the originals, “You Can’t Change the Weather” is a dull acoustic strummer, but the rest of the songs have the hooks and hummable melodies you expect from Crow’s work. “Alarm Clock” is gritty garage rock and one of the heaviest songs Crow has done. In the song, Crow sings about escapism, with the narrator content to ignore the real world in favor of a dream life where she’s rich, famous, and without a care in the world. “It’s a beautiful life,” Crow sings over Elizondo’s snarling guitar riff. “When I open my eyes, baby, that’s when the dreams stop.”
Crow contrasts that song with “Love Life,” a story about appreciating the little moments in life. “We’ll be talking about right now someday,” she sings. Elizondo’s bouncing bassline pops as Crow and Wendy Melvoin lay down funky licks on acoustic and electric guitars. It’s the best funk-infused hip-shaker Crow has put out since “Roses and Moonlight” on 2010’s 100 Miles from Memphis.
Since her sophomore album, Crow has handled an impressive repertoire of instruments on her albums. Though she mainly uses session musicians on Evolution, she plays acoustic guitar on most songs, piano on “Don’t Walk Away,” and Wurlitzer on three songs. In the country rock number “Do It Again,” Crow plays Wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, and harp as she sings about trying to make sense of a crazy world. “We crossed the bridge to nowhere, and we saw the other side. Well, there is no us, there is no them; baby, it’s all in your mind,” she sings amid layers of twangy electric guitars.
The second half of Evolution is mostly soft ballads, such as the piano crooner “Don’t Walk Away” and the acoustic strummer “Where?” In the former, Crow sings about a deteriorating relationship. “All I know is neither one of us is the other’s better half,” she sings. In the latter, violin and viola add emotional heft to Crow’s hushed, delicate voice. “Where can we be free if to be free means learning not to care?”
Crow’s artistic peak was from 1993-2002, when she released four outstanding albums packed with genre-hopping compositions, entertaining stories, sing-along melodies, and pop hooks. Since then, only 2008’s Detours has reached that high level of excellence. But even mediocre Sheryl Crow is good. Evolution’s blending of new territory with Crow’s signature sound has enough good music to satisfy the fans who worried there would be no more records following Threads.
