Trisha Yearwood debuted an “empowering” era in her decades-long career on Friday (July 18).

It’s also an era of “firsts” for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Honors Icon Award recipient. Yearwood paired her “unmatched vocals and storytelling” with perceptive songwriting throughout her 16th studio record, The Mirror. She’s credited as a co-writer on each of the 15 tracks for the first time in her career. Yearwood teamed up with Grammy winner Chad Carlson to co-produce The Mirror, capturing “the sound of an artist in full command of her voice, vulnerability, and vision,” reads a press release issued Friday morning. The Mirror “explores themes of resilience, identity, forgiveness, and feminine strength—rooted in a radiant, soulful country sound that amplifies the power of Yearwood’s most unfiltered songwriting to date.”

“When I was 19 years old someone told me I wasn’t a songwriter, and I let that be the truth for a very long time,” Yearwood said in a statement. “But at some point in the past few years, something shifted and I started writing and then just never stopped. You’d think that after all this time I’d have nothing new to share, but now I feel like I’m on a whole new adventure.”

Yearwood said on Friday that her fellow writers and collaborators “mean the world to me. Putting this project out is an empowering and exciting step for me. I’m just thankful. I hope you love it as much as I do.” She shared in a statement to her co-writers, “I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for trusting me with your creativity and pouring so much into these songs.”

Yearwood shared a few of the tracks ahead of the full album’s release, including “Bringing The Angels,” “The Wall Or The Way Over” and “Girls Night In.” She also reflected on some of the stories behind the songs, including “The Record Plays On,” featuring Lady A’s Charles Kelley. The Mirror also features collaborations with Hailey Whitters and Jim Lauderdale. It’s a project that Yearwood’s husband, fellow country star Garth Brooks, praised as his “FAVORITE album you have EVER made...the world is lucky to hear your voice, your stories and your soul in this way.” He said Yearwood has “outdone” herself with The Mirror.

Bringing the Angels (Written by Beth Bernard, Leslie Satcher, Bridgette Tatum, Trisha Yearwood)
The Wall Or the Way Over (Written by Emma-Lee, Maia Sharp, Trisha Yearwood)
Little Lady (Written by Leslie Satcher, Bridgette Tatum, Trisha Yearwood)
The Mirror (Written by Leslie Satcher, Bridgette Tatum, Trisha Yearwood)
Fearless These Days (Written by Makayla Lynn, Leslie Satcher, Trisha Yearwood)
So Many Summers (Written by Jim “Moose” Brown, Erin Enderlin, Trisha Yearwood)
The Record Plays On (feat. Charles Kelley) (Written by Chad Carlson, Melissa Fuller, Trisha Yearwood)
Girls Night In (Written by Rebecca Lynn Howard, Rachel Thibodeau, Trisha Yearwood)
Drunk Works (duet with Hailey Whitters) (Written by Chad Carlson, Hailey Whitters, Trisha Yearwood)
Fragile Like a Bomb (Written by Chad Carlson, Melissa Fuller, Trisha Yearwood)
The Ocean and the River (Written by Makayla Lynn, Leslie Satcher, Trisha Yearwood)
The Shovel (feat. Jim Lauderdale) (Written by Matt Rossi, Bobby Terry, Trisha Yearwood)
When I’m With You (Written by Brett Boyett, Leslie Satcher, Trisha Yearwood)
Goodnight Cruel World (Written by Erin Enderlin, Sunny Sweeney, Trisha Yearwood)
When October Settles In (Written by Steven Dorff, Leslie Satcher, Trisha Yearwood)

“I feel like a lot of the songs on this record are letters to my younger self. The Mirror is absolutely that,” the Grand Ole Opry member said in a recent press release when she unveiled the title track. “In my experience we, as women, are so hard on ourselves. We pick ourselves apart. But have you ever passed yourself in a mirror and, not realizing it was you, thought, ‘She looks strong, or confident’—something you’d never say about yourself? That thought inspired the song: about reaching a place where you talk to yourself like a best friend, not your worst enemy.”

“This album is different from all the others in that I co-wrote every single song on this record. I’ve never done that before in my whole life,” Yearwood previously said. “’The Song Remembers When’ is me. ‘Walkaway Joe’ is me. ‘She’s In Love With The Boy’ is me. I made those songs mine when I recorded them, and I feel that I have lived those songs. But being a co-writer on these songs and coming in with, ‘hey, I wanna say this today,’ I think adds a layer that most people haven’t seen from me. So, I think that’s why I’m so excited about this record, is because it’s different in that way. I’m hoping it’s a side that people see and go, ‘oh yeah, I get that…’ That they just get to see a little different side, another layer.”

Find The Mirror on iHeartRadio here.

Bob Delmont