Brandi Carlile performs new songs on Saturday Night Live.

12 hours ago7 min read

The stage of Studio 8H has long been a hallowed ground for musical revelation, a proving floor where artistry is stripped bare under the unblinking eye of live television, and on a crisp Saturday evening, Brandi Carlile did not merely perform; she offered a sacrament. The Grammy-winning artist, whose voice is less an instrument and more a force of weathered, empathetic nature, used her coveted slot on *Saturday Night Live* to unveil two new offerings from her forthcoming solo album, *Returning to Myself*, a title that speaks volumes to an artist navigating the complex geography of fame, family, and foundational truth.For those who have followed Carlile’s trajectory—from the raw, folksy yearning of *The Story* to the polished, arena-filling anthems of *By the Way, I Forgive You*—this moment felt less like a promotional stop and more like a homecoming to the core of her craft. The first song, let’s call it a haunting, piano-led ballad for the sake of this narrative until its official title is released, echoed with the sparse, profound melancholy of early Joni Mitchell, Carlile’s fingers dancing over the keys with a tender urgency as her voice cracked in all the right places, that signature rasp conveying a lifetime of heartache and hard-won hope.It was a performance that demanded silence, that made the live audience and the millions at home lean in, collectively holding their breath. The second number shifted the energy, a roots-rock rambler built on a bedrock of driving acoustic guitar and the subtle, symbiotic pulse of her longtime bandmates, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, who provided harmonies so tight they felt like a single, multifaceted voice.This track brimmed with the swagger and storytelling nuance of Elton John’s *Tumbleweed Connection* era, a narrative of redemption and hitting the open road that felt both timeless and desperately needed in the current musical landscape. The choice of *SNL* for this unveiling is strategic and significant; this is not an artist chasing TikTok virality but one building a legacy, using the show’s storied history—from Paul Simon’s quiet introspection to Adele’s earth-shattering crescendos—as a canvas for her own chapter.*Returning to Myself* promises to be a pivotal entry in her discography, potentially her *Blue*, her *Court and Spark*, an album that pulls back the layers of production to expose the raw nerve of songwriting that first catapulted her from a small-town Washington artist to a six-time Grammy winner. The critical reception to these new songs will undoubtedly be dissected in the coming weeks, but what was undeniable in the quiet moments after the final note faded was the sense that we were witnessing an artist not at a crossroads, but at a peak, fully in command of her powers and returning, indeed, to the singular, unvarnished self that made us all fall in love with her in the first place.

#featured

#Brandi Carlile

#SNL

#Saturday Night Live

#performance

#new album

#Returning to Myself

#Grammy

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