In an era of excess and endless distraction, Margaret Glaspy rejects the noise in favor of something far more essential.

Before setting to work on her fourth full-length album I Am Both, she stepped away from social media and soon discovered a clarity of mind she hadn’t experienced in years, followed by a sustained burst of creative momentum.

As she penned her lyrics in longhand and then polished them up on a typewriter, Glaspy assembled a selection of songs that span from fictional vignettes to unguarded self-revelation to empathetic observation of the troubled world around her. Produced by Joe Henry (the three-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/producer known for his work with luminaries like Aimee Mann and Joan Baez), I Am Both ultimately stands as a striking new statement from one of the modern music canon’s most formidable songwriters.