"Fires Don't Start Themselves" Released: April 3, 2023
"It was during the pandemic and we were writing the record, and I was having a bad day/ I just said to myself, 'At the end of the day, I'm just my mama's boy,' so I decided I was going to name itCarolyn's Boy after that. She was such a big influence on me and she was so important in my life. It was time for me to do something special like that."
Carolyn's Boy is the eighth studio album and sixth in the country genre by American singerDarius Rucker. It was released on October 6, 2023, throughCapitol Nashville. The album is dedicated to Rucker's mother Carolyn, who raised him and his siblings as a single mother and died before her son experienced success in the music industry.[2] The album was preceded by the singles "Beers and Sunshine" and "Fires Don't Start Themselves".[2]
Rucker set out to record new music and encountered an emotionally difficult day writing and he realized that he was a "mama's boy" and began to focus on writing in memory of his dead mother, Carolyn.[3] He enlisted several co-writers to help him explore his personal life and experience, including British pop musicianEd Sheeran, who helped him co-write a song about a childhood girlfriend.[4] It also includes a collaboration withChapel Hart on "Ol' Church Hymn"[5] and a cover ofRihanna's "Lift Me Up".[6]
"Beers and Sunshine" was released on August 6, 2020, as the lead single from Rucker's compilation album,#1's - Volume 1. It became Rucker's ninth number one hit on theBillboardCountry Airplay chart in the week dated February 27, 2021,[7] and was later included onCarolyn's Boy. "Fires Don't Start Themselves" was released on April 3, 2023, and reached a peak of number 25 on theBillboard Country Airplay chart.
"Never Been Over", which was originally included on the album as a solo cut, was later re-recorded as a duet withJennifer Nettles and released as a single to country radio on May 20, 2024.[8] Rucker began writing the song early into theCOVID-19 pandemic withLee Thomas Miller andJosh Osborne.[9] While his collaborators viewed it as a love song, Rucker viewed it as more of a breakup song, and he recorded it in the wake of his divorce from Beth Leonard.Kacey Musgraves was originally considered as a featured vocalist for the song ahead of the solo version that ended up on the album, before Nettles was ultimately added for the single release.[9]
Editors atAllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with criticStephen Thomas Erlewine writing that the songs have a "funny, cheerful, and just clever enough not to be dull" quality.[10]
Brennen Kelly ofCountry Chord gave the album a 6 out of 10, writing that the album is "not breaking any ground lyrically or sonically, but it's not an unpleasant listen by any stretch of the imagination."[11]
