Tenille Townes’ third album ‘The Acrobat’ is out now, and it marks a genuine turning point. Recorded, produced, and mixed entirely by Townes herself, with every instrument played by her, it’s the most stripped-back and intimate body of work she’s released, rooted in vulnerability, people-pleasing, self-abandonment, and the quiet tenacity it takes to keep moving when certainty falls away.
The title track, featuring Lori McKenna, arrives as an emotional anthem about trusting yourself and learning that you don’t have to reshape who you are to be worthy of love. “The Acrobat is about the slow erosion that comes from trying to become what someone else needs,” Townes shares. “The quiet whisper to the character in this song that I hope people hear, is that you don’t have to contort yourself to be worthy of love.” Writing it with McKenna, whose songwriting Townes describes as a compass influence since she first moved to Nashville, made the song a full-circle moment.
The album also features recent Grammy winners I’m With Her on “Grey Like Emmylou” and tracks written with Grammy-winning writers McKenna, Amy Wadge, and Daniel Tashian, alongside songs penned solely by Townes. The sparse production lets her storytelling and vocals do all the work, and the result lands with an intimacy that makes the listener feel genuinely present in the room.
Before the album’s release was even officially announced, Townes ran a fans-only pre-sale on social media that moved over 1,000 vinyl copies. That kind of connection between artist and audience is exactly what this record was built for.
The Canada-born, Nashville-based artist has earned 2 Juno Awards, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 17 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, and has toured alongside Stevie Nicks, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Reba, Zac Brown Band, George Strait, and Dierks Bentley.
‘The Acrobat’ Track Listing:
- Ordinary Love Song
- The Acrobat featuring Lori McKenna
- Enabling
- We Could Use a Little More
- Lonely Talking
- She Plays The Piano
- Grey Like Emmylou featuring I’m With Her
- What’s Meant for You
- In Love With the Sky