Courtney Marie Andrews – “How You Get Hurt”
Next month, the tremendously gifted country-folk singer and songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews will follow up her shattering 2018 album May Your Kindness Remain with a new LP called Old Flowers. The new album, originally slated for release in early June, only features three musicians — Andrews herself, Twain’s Matthew Davidson, and Big Thief’s James Krivchenia. We’ve already posted the early tracks “If I Told,” “Burlap String,” and “It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault,” and they’ve all been great. Today, we get a fourth song, and it might be the best one yet.
Andrews has just shared “How You Get Hurt,” the penultimate track from Old Flowers. “How You Get Hurt” is a slow, stately waltz. Andrews recorded the album with Bon Iver/Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo, and she and her band work up a glowing slow-dance sway that fits her voice beautifully.
Andrews sings with serious power about the moment after a breakup where two people miss each other but still work hard not to show each other any vulnerability — the age-old tension between resolve and love. The lyrics are simple and direct but still artful: “Fall in love/ If it doesn’t work out/ That’s how you get hurt.” Check it out below.
Old Flowers is out 7/24 on Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.