Maren Morris, ‘Humble Quest.’

Maren Morris made her name in country music the same way many do, singing about trucks, bad boys and getting drunk with friends. She originally moved to Nashville just hoping to become a songwriter, but soon got the knack for being on the stage. The difference between her solo career and those whom she moved to Nashville hoping to write for is Morris’ music almost always comes with an infectious hook and a good dose of charisma and wit. That feature remains just as prevalent on Humble Quest.

Morris’ breakthrough came in 2016 with “My Church” and “80s Mercedes,” each a separate story about how nostalgia and simpler things – your old car or AM/FM radio – can be some of the most inspirational things around us. She recalls these songs and the impact they had on her career on single “Circles Around This Town.” “A couple hundred songs and the ones that finally worked/ Was the one about a car and the one about a church/ That I wrote/ Drivin’ circles around this town,” she sings. It’s an infectious pop-country song that sets the tone for the remainder of the album.

Following her previous album, GIRL, and cofounded supergroup The Highwomen, gave birth, lived through violent Nashville storms and a pandemic. On Humble Quest we find a humbled Maren Morris, more observant and personal than ever before. Her aspirations for anthems and world domination are more subdued here. The album is shorter, more acoustic and ballad-focused.

She wrote tracks like “I Can’t Love You Anymore” and “The Furthest Thing” with her husband, fellow country singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd. The former is a mid-tempo country jam where she talks about falling for a boy from Michigan who “loves his mom like any Midwest kid.” She says outright that she doesn’t know what the hell she did to deserve him. On the latter song, a charming guitar follows her story about missing her family while hitting a new stage almost nightly. “You’re the furthest thing/ But damn do we still fit so perfectly,” she sings on the hook.

“Tall Guys” retains a sense of lighthearted humor found in older Morris tracks like “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” or “All My Favorite People.” She lists the perks of being with a man over a foot taller than her. Hurd stands 6 feet, 3 inches against Morris’ 5-foot, 1-inch frame. Those benefits include flying first class for legroom, no limits on her heel height, and drinking top-shelf liquor since it’s so easy for him to reach. But ultimately, her love for Hurd comes down to the fact he keeps her looking up.

The mid-album highlights include “Hummingbird,” an acoustic love song dedicated to her baby, who makes her feel as comfortable as a Nashville spring or a Mexican winter. “Hummingbird, hummingbird/ You’re the sound of these strings,” she sings in one of the album’s strongest choruses. On the effortlessly melodic “Good Friends,” she employs a clap for the bridge that’s then accented by a trilling piano, making for a story equal parts friendship and love.

Another stark difference on Humble Quest and Morris’ previous releases was the loss of her producer Michael Busbee, who died of cancer in 2019. Morris, Hurd and friend Jon Green wrote album closer “What Would This World Do?” before Busbee’s death, while they still had hope he’d pull through. She concludes the album with an emotional tribute as a way of thanking him for the impact he left on her career. “Out of everybody I’ll only have one use/ What would my world do without you,” she asks in a soft-spoken final lyric to her refined and modest new album.

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