The Dirt and the Stars

The Dirt and the Stars is the 16th studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Lambent Light Records on August 7, 2020.

Background and recording
In a press release, Carpenter described the songs on the album as "very personal" and "difficult in some ways, and definitely come from places of pain and self-illumination, but also places of joy, discovery and the rewards of self- knowledge." She wrote the album at her Virginia farmhouse and recorded it at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios near Bath, England between January and February 2020 prior to lockdowns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critical reception
Bob Paxman of Sounds of Nashville gave The Dirt and the Stars a positive review, praising Carpenter for her ability to "[get] her message across with lyrical passages that could easily pass for straight poetry" and the album's cohesiveness that allows the songs to "build with nice opening sequences". Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, highlighting the use of Carpenter's "empathic" band to "erase all boundaries between singer and song", and describing it as one of her standout albums from her entire repertoire. Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork was similarly positive, giving the album a 7.7 out of 10. He wrote: "Three decades into her career, one of country music’s most reliable and empathetic songwriters offers a profoundly intimate record, full of hushed revelations."

Track listing
Vinyl-only bonus tracks

Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music bonus tracks

Personnel

 * Mary Chapin Carpenter – vocals, acoustic guitar
 * Jeremy Stacey – drums, percussion
 * Nick Pini – electric and double bass, Moog
 * Matt Rollings – piano, Hammond organ
 * Duke Levine – electric guitar, 12 string acoustic guitar, mandolin
 * Ethan Johns – mandolin, continuum, electric guitar, percussion, drums

Technical personnel

 * Ethan Johns – producer
 * Jamie Melford and Mary Chapin Carpenter, co-producers (bonus track "Our Man Walter Cronkite" only)
 * Dom Monks – engineer, mixing
 * Matt Colton – mastering
 * Aaron Farrington and Chris Tetzeli – photography
 * Mark Berger – package layout