More than three decades after ‘All I Wanna Do’ helped turn Sheryl Crow into one of the defining American songwriters of the ’90s, she is returning with her 12th studio album, Pick You Up.
Due October 9 through Old Green Barn Productions LLC, the seven-song record was written by Crow with longtime collaborator Jeff Trott and finds her returning to the rock, Americana and singer-songwriter foundations that have run through much of her career.
The first taste arrives with ‘Freedom Bus’, featuring Jesse Welles. Crow uses the song to consider freedom, political division and the increasingly fraught business of simply talking to one another.
“I do not take freedom lightly because our freedom has been paid for in the lives of others throughout history,” Crow says, adding that the ability to disagree should reflect an understanding of what previous generations fought to protect.
It’s an idea that feeds into the wider concerns of Pick You Up. Crow describes its seven songs as reflections on being human, searching for connection and trying to hold onto some hope when the surrounding noise makes that easier said than done.
“Each of these songs are a commentary on being human and wanting connection,” she says. “There is a lot of chaos all around us and I definitely find myself feeling alone.”
Born in Kennett, Missouri, Crow broke through spectacularly with Tuesday Night Music Club, with ‘All I Wanna Do’ earning her Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys. What followed was a career in which Crow managed the increasingly rare trick of being both a genuine rock musician and a huge pop star, shifting more than 50 million albums worldwide and placing seven albums in the Top 10.
Nine Grammy Awards and a 2023 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tell part of the story, but Crow’s influence is perhaps better measured by the artists who came afterwards. Phoebe Bridgers, Haim, Lorde, H.E.R., Maren Morris, Sasami, Best Coast and Brandi Carlile are among a younger generation of musicians who have covered her songs or spoken about her impact.
That longevity hasn’t come without some bruises. The 2022 documentary Sheryl, which premiered at SXSW before airing on Showtime, looked beyond the hits to examine the sexism, ageism, depression, cancer and pressures of fame Crow encountered across her career. Rather than turning that history into a monument, she has simply kept making records, releasing Evolution in 2024 and now following it with Pick You Up.
The new album also reconnects Crow with Trott, whose long creative partnership with her stretches back to some of her best-known work, including ‘If It Makes You Happy’, ‘Everyday Is a Winding Road’ and ‘My Favorite Mistake’. That history gives Pick You Up a natural connection to the records that established Crow without suggesting she is interested in simply recreating them.
Even the artwork comes with its own piece of Crow history. The cover features Tyson Grumm’s painting ‘The Elephant Who Forgot The Ocean’. Crow first discovered Grumm’s work nearly 20 years ago and became a collector, eventually spotting this particular painting at auction. She contacted the artist about using it for the record and subsequently bought the original, which now hangs in her home.
Pick You Up arrives at an interesting point in Crow’s career. She has long since accumulated the Grammys, platinum records, enormous singles and Hall of Fame induction that turn artists into institutions, yet ‘Freedom Bus’ suggests she remains more interested in what’s happening outside the window. More than 30 years after ‘All I Wanna Do’, Sheryl Crow is still looking around, writing it down and finding a tune to carry it.
