When we heard “No Reason,” the lead single from Nashville country-punk artist Sunny War’s new Anarchist Gospel, we learned the album would feature a slew of noteworthy guests like Jim James, Allison Russell, the Raconteurs’ Jack Lawrence, and so forth. On today’s new track “Higher,” the looming presence is David Rawlings, the longtime folk guitarist extraordinaire. It’s a sparse and weary track, a sound befitting its subject matter. Let Sunny explain:

I wrote “Higher” around this time last year, just a few days after my ex collected the last of his belongings from our apartment. The break up was fresh and I was thinking about all the years we spent together. I was also thinking about how much stronger I was before our relationship. I remember feeling really weak at the end… I knew it was over when I didn’t even have the energy to fight anymore. The “I am out of remedies, at least I’m not a liar” lyric sums up how I felt when I knew it was really over and time to be honest about it. All I could do at that point was let go and try to figure out how to get back to whoever I was back when I respected myself. It was the same person my ex was attracted to in the first place that he unknowingly destroyed. “Somewhere in my memories I held my head much higher.”

Listen below.

Anarchist Gospel is out 2/3 on New West.