Circles Around This Town

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"Circles Around This Town"
Single by Maren Morris
from the album Humble Quest
ReleasedJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
GenreCountry
Length3:15
LabelColumbia Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Greg Kurstin
Maren Morris singles chronology
"Chasing After You"
(2021) 		"Circles Around This Town"
(2022) 		"Make You Say"
(2022)

"Circles Around This Town" is a song by American country music artist Maren Morris. It was written by Morris, along with her husband Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels and Jimmy Robbins. It was released on January 7, 2022, as the lead single from Morris' third studio album Humble Quest. The song received positive reviews from critics, earning two nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.[1]

Background and writing[edit]

Maren Morris had first reached her commercial breakthrough in 2016 with the single "My Church". The song helped her attain a recording contract and a major label album that spawned further country hits. She followed it with several more commercially-successful singles, along with major industry awards.[2] Morris wrote "Circles Around This Town" in preparation for her next studio album. It was composed with Ryan Hurd and Julia Michaels during the fall 2020 during a "deeply uninspired" period, according to Morris. It was among her first times co-writing in person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] According to Morris, she had struggled writing material virtually due to the lack of places being open.[4]

The song's concept is based on Morris's journey to country success, describing her path of moving to Nashville, Tennessee and signing a recording contract.[5] "I hope that when listeners hear it, they can hear a bit of themselves in that story, even though it is mine," she told CMT.[4] The track was recorded with producer Greg Kurstin.[6] "I needed to make this record to pull me out of the weird boredom, depression that I think every human being on this planet has had during the last couple of years," she explained of its recording process.[4]

Critical reception[edit]

"Circles Around This Town" has received positive reviews from critics. Jon Freeman of Rolling Stone praised its production: "'Circles Around This Town' moves along with the kind of ambling groove that’s been a big part of Morris' sound—unhurried and bolstered by a grunge-lite guitar riff."[5] Billy Dukes highlighted the album's writing in his review: "Much like she did with her debut single, Morris takes us back to the front seat of her car for creative inspiration. It's as relatable now as it was five years ago."[7]

Jessica Nicholson by Billboard wrote that "the song embodies a crunchier, more rootsy vibe than other recent fare" finding similarities with "My Church" and "80s Mercedes".[8] Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky also finds Morris's search for earliest sonorities in the song, pointing out that "Morris moved away from the glossier style, [...] taking influence from singer-songwriters like Patty Griffin and Carole King".[9]

Music video[edit]

The music video for "Circles Around This Town" was directed by Harper Smith.[10] It drew inspiration from the videos of 1990s music artists. According to Morris, she appreciated the aesthetic of the decade's videos. "I've always been so inspired by the industrial, blown out colors of music videos from the '90s, so [director] Harper Smith and I wanted the aesthetics of this video to reflect that grainy, devil-may-care attitude of all my females heroes from that era: Sheryl, Fiona, Alanis."[11] The video features an appearance from Reba McEntire who can be seen in a television advertisement.[5] The video premiered the same day of the single's release.[10]

Release and chart performance[edit]

"Circles Around This Town" was released as a single on January 7, 2022, via Columbia Nashville.[10] Following its release the song was the most added single to country music radio in the first month of 2022. It also broke Amazon's record for "most streams for a country song debut by a female artist", according to Music Row magazine. It also debuted at the number one spot on Pandora's country chart.[12] It debuted in the top 30 of Billboard's Country Airplay chart in January 2022.[6]

Personnel[edit]

  • Maren Morris – vocals, composer, lyricist
  • Julia Michaels – background vocals, composer, lyricist
  • Jimmy Robbins – composer, lyricist, overdub engineer
  • Ryan Hurd – background vocals, composer, lyricist
  • Greg Kurstin – producer, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, electric guitar, percussion, recording engineer
  • Bennett Lewis – mandolin
  • Rich Hinman – steel guitar
  • Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
  • Julian Burg – recording engineer
  • Bryce Bordone – assistant engineer
  • Matt Tuggle – assistant engineer

Accolades[edit]

Year Ceremony Award Result Ref.
2022 CMT Music Awards Female Video of the Year Nominated
[13]
2023 Grammy Awards Best Country Song Nominated
[14]
Best Country Solo Performance Nominated

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for "Circles Around This Town"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 40,000‡
United States (RIAA)[25] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Release history for "Circles Around This Town"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various January 7, 2022
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 Columbia Nashville [26]
United States January 10, 2022 Country radio [27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jones, Damian (November 15, 2022). "Grammys nominations 2023: Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Harry Styles score the most nods". NME. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Maren Morris: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  3. ^ DeSantis, Rachael (January 7, 2022). "Maren Morris Drops New Single 'Circles Around This Town,' Her Most Autobiographical Song Yet". People. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Watts, Cindy (January 7, 2022). "Maren Morris "Just Decided To Go For It" in New Single "Circles Around This Town"". Country Music Television. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Freeman, Jon (January 7, 2022). "Maren Morris Survives the Nashville Hustle in New Song 'Circles Around This Town'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Bjorke, Matt (January 12, 2022). "Maren Morris' "Circles Around This Town" Most-Added At Radio". Roughstock. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Dukes, Billy. "Maren Morris' 'Circles Around This Town' Spotlights Her Struggles". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  8. ^ Nicholson, Jessica; Newman, Melinda (March 25, 2022). "Every Song Ranked on Maren Morris' New Album, 'Humble Quest'". Billboard. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  9. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (March 28, 2022). "Maren Morris Is Fresh Out of Give-a-Shit". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "Maren Morris Unveils New Single & Video For "Circles Around This Town"". Sony Music Nashville. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Parton, Chris (January 7, 2022). "Maren Morris Runs 'Circles Around This Town' in New Single and Video". Sounds Like Nashville. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Farthing, Lydia (January 11, 2022). "Maren Morris Breaks Amazon Music Record With Debut Of 'Circles Around This Town'". Music Row. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  13. ^ "CMT Music Awards Nominations: Kane Brown Leads Field, but First-Timers Abound". March 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Grammy Awards 2023: The Full List of Nominees". The New York Times. November 15, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "Maren Morris Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  16. ^ "Maren Morris Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  17. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. January 17, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "Maren Morris Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  19. ^ "Maren Morris Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  20. ^ "Maren Morris Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  21. ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  22. ^ "Country Airplay – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  23. ^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  24. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Maren Morris – Circles Around This Town". Music Canada. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "American single certifications – Maren Morris – Circles Around This Town". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  26. ^ "Circles Around This Town - Single by Maren Morris". Retrieved February 8, 2022 – via Apple Music.
  27. ^ "Future Releases for Country Radio Stations". All Access. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
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