''Evolution'' is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

. It was released on March 29, 2024, through Big Machine, her second release with the label. It was her first studio album in five years, and was announced after she was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

in November 2023. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, but was a commercial failure and peaked at number 90 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, her lowest-charting album to date and did not enter the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

'' U.S. charts.

Background

Crow announced the album on November 3, 2023, which came as a surprise since she had previously stated her intentions to not release another album following 2019's '' Threads''. The news arrived just ahead of her induction into the

that same day. Crow explained that music and lyrics on the album stem from "sitting in the quiet and writing from a deep soul place". The creation process started by Crow recording a couple of demos which she then sent to producer Mike Elizondo. Songs "just kept flowing" out of her and it would soon be obvious that "this was going to be an album". Following the release of '' Threads'' four years prior, she announced to never make another record because had thought there would be "no point to it". However, in creating ''Evolution'', she found that the music comes from her soul. Crow hopes "whoever hears this record can feel that".

Commercial performance

In the United States, the ''Evolution'' peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Album Sales Chart. In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 90 on the UK Official Albums Chart, and number 6 on the UK Album Downloads Chart.

Critical reception

''Evolution'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Giving the album an 8/10, Emma Harrison of ClashMusic calls Evolution a "soul-searching and liberating surprise return from the Grammy-award winner." Vera Maksymiuk of Riff Magazine says the album "is at its core authentically Sheryl Crow, with an elevated artistic vision and concept to match." Jeremy Lukens of Glide Magazine, conceding that "Crow's artistic peak was from 1992-2002," claims that Evolution's "blending of new territory with Crow's signature sound has enough music to satisfy the fans." Multiple reviewers, however, criticized the album for sounding too familiar. Pat Carty of Louder Sound, who rated the album 3 stars out of 5, says the album "becomes a bit by-numbers" following the opening four songs. Ed Power of i says the album is "too bland to leave an impression" and that "Music has moved on in the last 30 years - but Crow is still in the same disposable groove." Claire Shaffer of Pitchfork rated the album a 6/10 and says that Crow's "new album sometimes makes her singular appeal feel generic."

Track listing

Note * The standard edition omits "Digging in the Dirt".

Personnel

Musicians *

– lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 1, 3–7, 9, 10), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 9),

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from 1954 to 1983. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptually similar to ...

(3, 5, 9),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

(3); clapping, keyboards (4); piano (8) * Mike Elizondo – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 5–10), bass (1, 2, 4–7, 9, 10), drum programming (1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10), electric guitar (1, 2, 9, 10), background vocals (4, 9), clapping (4), acoustic guitar (6), percussion (7) * Wendy Melvoin – electric guitar (tracks 2, 4) * Keefus Ciancia – keyboards (tracks 2, 4) *

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

– lead vocals (track 2) * E Rounds – drums, percussion (track 2) * Lisa Coleman – Hammond B3 (track 2) * Fred Eltringham – drums (tracks 3, 6, 10), percussion (3, 6, 7) * John Shanks – acoustic guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, synth pads (track 3) * Tim Smith – acoustic guitar, background vocals, bass, electric guitar (track 3) * Jeff Trott – electric guitar (track 3) * Justin Francis –

tenor guitar The tenor guitar or four-string guitar is a slightly smaller, four-string relative of the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. The instrument was initially developed in its acoustic form by Gibson and C.F. Martin so that players o ...

(track 3) * Terence F. Clark – drums (tracks 4, 5, 9), percussion (4, 5); background vocals, clapping (4) * Max Townsley – acoustic guitar (track 5) *

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

– electric guitar (track 6) * Rob Moose –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, violin (tracks 6–8) * Bill Bottrell – acoustic guitar (track 7) * Alex Wilder – background vocals (track 9) * Erica Block – background vocals (track 9) Technical * Mike Elizondo – production (tracks 1, 2, 4–10) * John Shanks – production (track 3) * Sheryl Crow – production (track 3) * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Adam Hawkins – mixing * Justin Francis –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Jaime Sickora – engineering (track 2) * Katie May – engineering (track 2) * Alberto Vaz – engineering (track 3) * Bradley Giroux – engineering (track 3) * Rob Moose – engineering, string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

(tracks 6–8) * Alex Wilder – engineering assistance * Erica Block – engineering assistance

Charts

References

{{Sheryl Crow 2024 albums Albums produced by Mike Elizondo Big Machine Records albums Sheryl Crow albums