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{"id":46197,"date":"2022-01-13T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=46197"},"modified":"2022-01-14T19:51:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T00:51:00","slug":"af-2021-in-review-a-year-of-divorce-heartache-and-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/af-2021-in-review-a-year-of-divorce-heartache-and-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"AF 2021 In Review: A Year Of Divorce, Heartache, And Grief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Carly Pearce \/\/ Photo Credit: Allister Ann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The world might have opened back up in 2021, but it was still a year branded with heartache, sorrow, and grief. Even if you didn\u2019t endure the death of a loved one, you likely knew someone who did \u4e00 or perhaps you wandered through some of the biggest records of the year and found yourself replaying your own miseries. Last year, loss in all its forms, including divorce, seemed to permeate every corner of existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through a series of several mainstream releases, including Carly Pearce\u2019s 29<\/em> and Adele\u2019s 30<\/em>, 2021 was the unequivocal year of divorce, heartbreak, and grief. An outpouring of collective pain, whether from death or severed friendships, wormed into songwriting in a remarkable, cathartic way. Artists sought as much solace as everyday folks, marking the second year of an ongoing pandemic with deep, indelible scars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Divorce albums are not a new conceit. Historically, singer-songwriters have long written about very public breakups as a way to compartmentalize and cope. Many of music\u2019s greatest divorce records, including Willie Nelson\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/2UUGvJBpRoOQFwDLtq8KCP?si=0X--fySoTZ6gyjtqJce0Nw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Phases and Stages<\/a><\/em>, Tammy Wynette\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/0knSNRmUnTtDyRK6n0PXLb?si=0s9ikmm2TiG34NNd7O10TQ\">D-I-V-O-R-C-E<\/a><\/em>, and Marvin Gaye\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/1iVf41qWHZsAk9DwY43WnV?si=1Z_-_iM2Snq6h72fBIRF9g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here, My Dear<\/a><\/em>, as well as more recent LPs from The Chicks (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/1YV5Rh6n8dLOycCqWcUSq4?si=kNABQ8pPQZmTz1aLS2EkiQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gaslighter<\/a><\/em>) and Miranda Lambert (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/563h536tB6n8Dn62jr4RZG?si=qlK8sHitQP-Z66K4slYNdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Weight of These Wings<\/a><\/em>), served to reclaim the public narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tabloid headlines are nothing if not salacious in their details, frequently pitting one public figure against another in a way to sell magazines or get clicks. But behind those shiny veneers are living, breathing human beings simply trying to process their trauma. Yes, heartbreak is a form of trauma. In peeling back the emotional and psychological layers through storytelling, singers and songwriters find an agency they otherwise wouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adele\u2019s <em>30<\/em> was the most anticipated release of the year. Six years since her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/only-noise-adele-25-30\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last studio record<\/a>, <em>30<\/em> showcased the British performer making sense of her pain, flitting through the effects the divorce had on her son, their relationship in and out of the watery depths, and her desperate search to find herself once more. \u201cTo Be Loved\u201d is the crown jewel of not only the record but her career so-far, as Adele gave her everything in a nearly-seven-minute epic best summed up with this refrain: \u201cLet it be known that I tried.\u201d Elsewhere, subtler yet still skin-scalding moments like \u201cI Drink Wine\u201d and \u201cStrangers by Nature\u201d permitted her to feel those emotions, raw and unfettered. While she\u2019s felt anger in her divorce, <em>30<\/em> is not \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/uk\/adele-album-30-easy-on-me-songs-2021-divorce-simon-konecki-b970066.html\" target=\"_blank\">an angry divorced woman<\/a>\u201d record; rather, it\u2019s one of absolution from the past and the many tattered pages of resentment and misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/21jF5jlMtzo94wbxmJ18aa?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly Clarkson endured her own skirmish in the divorce spotlight, as well. A jovial person by nature, it seems fitting she funneled her heartache into a holiday album. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/5sVFXIMrFRKBtDOexVlBBU?si=WlvfncfQRt6Q_yGGaPuCiQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">When Christmas Comes Around\u2026<\/a><\/em> worked in much the same way as <em>30<\/em>. The 12-song record dipped between jubilantly sashaying through her favorite classics, including \u201cIt\u2019s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,\u201d \u201cRockin\u2019 Around the Christmas Tree,\u201d and \u201cSanta Baby,\u201d and twirling through anguish like vibrantly colored ribbons. In the opening song, \u201cMerry Christmas Baby,\u201d Clarkson clued you into how she was feeling: \u201cYou can keep the charming lines\/And you can keep your wandering hands and eyes.\u201d Her thorny-laced lyrics coarse through the record, namely in two other originals \u201cChristmas Isn\u2019t Canceled (Just You)\u201d and \u201cMerry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know),\u201d gloriously tinseled exorcisms. But in the end, as attested through standout \u201cBlessed,\u201d Clarkson emerged lighter and more self-possessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the country world, Carly Pearce and Kacey Musgraves conjured up firestorms with <em>29<\/em> and <em>star-crossed<\/em>, respectively. Where Pearce soaked in modern-pressed traditional country, leaning upon fiddle, guitar, and other staple instruments, Musgraves stretched further into the pop world, using her much-acclaimed 2018 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/only-noise-kacey-musgraves-still-speaks-to-me-with-golden-hour-a-year-after-its-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Golden Hour<\/a><\/em> as a jumping off point. In both instances, the singer-songwriters expressed the sting of betrayal that\u2019s now forever stamped into the emotional fabric of their lives. \u201cSo I ain’t gonna tell you everything he did\/But I’ll tell you what he didn’t do: treat me right, put me first, be a man of his word\/Stay home ’cause he wanted to,” sang Pearce. She seemingly flipped expectations here with “What He Didn’t Do” \u2014 but did plenty of tea-spilling later on with songs like \u201cNext Girl\u201d and \u201cShould\u2019ve Known Better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conversely, Musgraves\u2019 <em>star-crossed<\/em> unlocked a throbbing, emotional center through traditional instruments buried beneath magical production choices. The title cut is a cinematic conversation-piece, dazzling with distortion and synths, as if she\u2019s escaping her heartbreak through a universe-defying expedition. \u201cLet\u2019s go back to the beginning,\u201d she whispered on \u201cgood wife,” guitar peeking up like whack-a-mole. Staging the record as a chronological tale allowed the listener to experience the rush of burning love in those early days to the wildfire and the charred aftermath in almost real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6y9LbrjY2TpaLvtbE7FTkc?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My parents were never married, but when they split, it forever changed me. The night of their separation is among my earliest memories; I remember it like it was yesterday. My older sister Katrina held me tightly in her arms, tears streaming down my face and a throaty wail squirming from my lungs. I rarely cried so hard as a kid, and even now I can feel that pain rising into my chest. It\u2019s something you can never forget. When I listen to <em>29<\/em>, <em>30<\/em>, <em>star-crossed<\/em>, and even <em>When Christmas Comes Around\u2026<\/em> that memory flashes just as red and hot as it did then. In my adulthood, that moment certainly feels much different, but emotional memory can be a helluva drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any sort of grief is physiological. It\u2019s far more than simply reliving those flashing polaroids. It\u2019s the ungodly physical pains that rip through flesh and bone like it\u2019s happening to you all over again. And it\u2019s not an exclusive experience to heartbreak and divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re grieving when you feel your chest tighten and you can barely breathe. It\u2019s not dissimilar to experiencing death. When Olivia Rodrigo is lamenting young heartbreak on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/6s84u2TUpR3wdUv4NgKA2j?si=sQlJNGJ2QTin5P7ngL-DdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sour<\/a><\/em> or Taylor Swift is recounting her own in the long-awaited release of “<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/5enxwA8aAbwZbf5qCHORXi?si=16dbfeafa6f844b9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">All Too Well<\/a>” (10 Minute Version) or GAYLE is delivering the kiss-off to end all kiss-offs with smash single “<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/4fouWK6XVHhzl78KzQ1UjL?si=5f56940656f6476a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abcdefu<\/a>,” grief lies at their confectionary cores. Grief is grief. It doesn’t matter what the exterior looks like; the emotional and physical responses are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Glam-pop newcomer Jake Wesley Rogers, taking cues from Bowie and Elton John in style and musical approach, dressed up themes of loss and moving on with his latest EP, <em>Pluto<\/em>. Songs like \u201cWeddings and Funerals,\u201d in which he muses that the small moments define our lives much more than the big ones, and \u201cMiddle of Love,\u201d containing the apt line \u201cmy grandma died ’cause that’s what people do\u201d bowl you over with their insight. The musical accomplishment of the tracks themselves give Rogers\u2019 words even more gravitas, allowing for a universal clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6Iwf7mZlw59EtjlnLPzki9?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One-off releases, such as Lindsey Stirling\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/5y4jL5I64YU5vpeJYVgPKG?si=dn3vTtQCRYqVNXSMmtP9pA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lose You Now<\/a>,” an electrifying plea to hold onto her father\u2019s memory, pulled sorrow further into the conversation. Xenia Rubino\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/25FVv1DPCCd1jGwDBV67bN?si=0f79525dd3bf48ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Did My Best<\/a>\u201d did the same, a moving centerpiece to the year, while Zara Larsson dissected her own heartbreak with <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/79y7DSLFQH3907u4ysOMGr?si=ZpVbnTylQoqbZus3nh5j4Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Poster Girl<\/a><\/em>, and Hayley Williams learned to let go on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/3JSvIZCtxK4fUywBK41129?si=XkIdK4VMRvS8NZyo0V2tsQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FLOWERS for VASES \/ descansos<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s hard to comprehend that 2021 is really over, now firmly in our rearview mirror. But as we take stock of yet another year lost to a pandemic, we can begin to reflect upon the common threads which connect our lives. Sadness flows much further than this feature will allow, also present in the work of countless other artists, including Joshua Bassett, Dashboard Confessional, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, James Arthur, H.E.R., and Julien Baker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps through experiencing these musical masterpieces, we can understand the personal and universal significance of pain in songwriting and to our everyday lives. I know without a doubt that I’ve come closer to figuring out how continue on in a world so utterly destroyed by tragedy. I have plenty to learn still \u2014 but for now, I’ll listen, drink wine, and cry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world might have opened back up in 2021, but it was still a year branded with heartache, sorrow, and grief. Even if you didn\u2019t endure the death of a loved one, you likely knew someone who did \u4e00 or perhaps you wandered through some of the biggest records of the year and found yourself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":46242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[4192,12880,12915,12854,8516,9444],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Carly-Pearce-cr-Allister-Ann-e1642207805556.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46197"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46243,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46197\/revisions\/46243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}