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Carly Pearce Pairs With Ashley McBryde For "Never Wanted To Be That Girl"

The 29: Written In Stone track is described by Pearce as a "reality bomb"

Carly Pearce's hotly-anticipated album 29: Written In Stone is to be released Friday, September 17. The rising superstar vocalist released "Never Wanted To Be That Girl," a heartbreaking duet with Ashley McBryde, in preparation for the event. Locked in much the same vein of deep melancholy as much of McBryde's 2020-released album Never Will, Pearce doubles down on the heartache here, lamenting the moment of realizing that you're not your mate's primary partner.

Regarding the new song, Pearce noted via Instagram, "This is the story of how a bad man happened to two good women."

The "Next Girl" singer has had much to say related to her forthcoming album. "My truth in 15 songs. All written in stone. I can’t wait to share them with you this Friday ❤️," she wrote in another Instagram post.

Via a press release, the two singer-songwriters discussed the song's writing process:

“Ashley is such a great drop-into-the-moment writer, she was able to bring that reality bomb truth to what we were doing,” Pearce said. “She’s fearless, and she understands human nature in a way that let us both really write to the hurt of realizing we’ve been lied to by someone we’re intimate with.”

“Carly isn’t afraid to face the less potable subjects,” McBryde offered. “As a writer she’s willing to get in there and get very honest. Writing this song together with Shane strengthened our friendship and taught us more about one another and ourselves. Seriously, nobody wants to be the other woman. And when you find you are...damn. It’s such a gut punch.”

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