Never Will

Never Will
Never Will
Studio album by Ashley McBryde
Released	April 3, 2020
Genre	Country; rock;
Length	39:33
Label	Warner Music Nashville
Producer	Jay Joyce
Ashley McBryde chronology
Singles from Never Will
	"One Night Standards"; Released: September 23, 2019; "Martha Divine"; Released: October 19, 2020;

Never Will is the second studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Ashley McBryde. It was released on April 3, 2020 via Warner Music Nashville. The album is McBryde's second major label release and was preceded by the lead single "One Night Standards". McBryde launched the One Night Standards Tour in support of the album on January 30, 2020.

Never Will was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album and the Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year.

Release and promotion

The album's title, track listing and release date were revealed on January 17, 2020.^[1]^[2]

Singles

The first single from the album, "One Night Standards", was released on August 30, 2019. It impacted country radio on September 23, 2019.^[3] The music video was released on December 19.

Two additional songs—"Martha Divine" and "Hang in There Girl"—were released ahead of the album as promotional singles in January 2020. Both were accompanied by music videos that made up a chronological 3-part series beginning with the video for "One Night Standards".^[4]^[5]

Tour

Beginning January 30, 2020, McBryde launched the One Night Standards Tour to support the album.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100^[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[8]
American Songwriter	^[9]
And It Don't Stop	A−^[10]
Exclaim!	8/10^[11]
Rolling Stone	^[12]

Never Will was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 7 reviews.^[7]

American Songwriter reviewer Hal Horowitz applauded the music, regarding it as "a rock/country hybrid that's more visceral than, well, country/rock, and hits harder too".^[9] On the other hand, Robert Christgau lamented "the production here: Nashville rock at its bigged-up schlockiest, with McBryde belting to match", but applauded the songwriting as "compact", engaging, and "so sharp it gives her the right to belt: lyrically not one of the 11 tracks is merely passable".^[10] Jonathan Bernstein from Rolling Stone similarly praised the lyrics, calling McBryde "one of country's sharpest truth-tellers".^[12]

Accolades

Accolades for *Never Will*
Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	Billboard's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year	—	^[13]
Rolling Stone	Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year	—	^[14]
Spin	Spin's 30 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year	—	^[15]
Stereogum	Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year	44	^[16]
Variety	Variety's Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year	—	^[17]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hang in There Girl"	Ashley McBryde Jeremy Bussey	3:49
2.	"One Night Standards"	McBryde Shane McAnally Nicolette Hayford	3:10
3.	"Shut Up Sheila"	Hayford Charles Chisholm	3:51
4.	"First Thing I Reach For"	McBryde Randall Clay Mick Holland	3:14
5.	"Voodoo Doll"	McBryde Hayford Brandy Clark Connie Harrington Jake Mitchell Aaron Raitiere	3:29
6.	"Sparrow"	McBryde Hayford Clark Harrington Mitchell Raitiere	3:50
7.	"Martha Divine"	McBryde Jeremy Spillman	3:37
8.	"Velvet Red"	McBryde Patrick Savage Daniel Smalley	3:27
9.	"Stone"	McBryde Hayford	4:15
10.	"Never Will"	McBryde Chris Harris Blue Foley Matt Helmkamp Christian Sancho Victor Quinn Hill	3:56
11.	"Styrofoam"	Clay	2:55
Total length:			39:33

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic^[18]

Blue Foley - background vocals
Jason Hall- background vocals
Chris Harris - acoustic guitar, mandolin, background vocals
Matt Helmkamp - electric guitar, background vocals
Quinn Hill - drums, percussion, background vocals
Jay Joyce - Farfisa organ, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, piano, programming, background vocals
Jimmy Mansfield - background vocals
Ashley McBryde - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals, background vocals
Chris Sancho - bass guitar, background vocals
Trick Savage - background vocals
Dan Smalley - background vocals

Charts

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[19]	23
UK Country Albums (OCC)^[20]	2
US Billboard 200^[21]	54
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[22]	5

References

^ Betts, Stephen L. (January 17, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Announces New Album 'Never Will'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ "Ashley McBryde's New Album, 'Never Will,' Coming April 3". Music Row. January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ "Ashley McBryde Drops First Single, "One Night Standards," From Upcoming Sophomore Album [Listen]". Nash Country Daily. September 3, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
^ Craig Shelburne (January 13, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Digs Into the Saga of "Martha Divine"". CMT. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ Carena Liptak (January 29, 2020). "WATCH: Ashley McBryde Finds Hope in New Song 'Hang in There Girl'". The Boot. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ "Ashley McBryde Announces "One Night Standards Tour"". Nash Country Daily. November 19, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Horowitz, Hal (April 1, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Proves She is Here to Stay With Powerful Sophomore Release". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Christgau, Robert (October 14, 2020). "Consumer Guide: October, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
^ Ashley, Marlo (April 6, 2020). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Bernstein, Jonathan (April 3, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Tells Stories of Career Struggles and Small Town Drama on 'Never Will'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ Billboard Staff (June 9, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ Schwartz, Danny (June 17, 2020). "50 Best Albums of 2020 – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^ "The 30 Best Albums of 2020". Spin. May 21, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Stereogum. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ Aswad, Jem; Willman, Chris; Barker, Andrew (June 5, 2020). "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Variety. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
^ "Ashley McBryde Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
^ "Ashley McBryde Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

[1] Betts, Stephen L. (January 17, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Announces New Album 'Never Will'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 28, 2020.

[2] "Ashley McBryde's New Album, 'Never Will,' Coming April 3". Music Row. January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.

[3] "Ashley McBryde Drops First Single, "One Night Standards," From Upcoming Sophomore Album [Listen]". Nash Country Daily. September 3, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2020.

[4] Craig Shelburne (January 13, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Digs Into the Saga of "Martha Divine"". CMT. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.

[5] Carena Liptak (January 29, 2020). "WATCH: Ashley McBryde Finds Hope in New Song 'Hang in There Girl'". The Boot. Retrieved January 31, 2020.

[6] "Ashley McBryde Announces "One Night Standards Tour"". Nash Country Daily. November 19, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.

[MC-7] "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[8] Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[as-9] Horowitz, Hal (April 1, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Proves She is Here to Stay With Powerful Sophomore Release". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[xgau-10] Christgau, Robert (October 14, 2020). "Consumer Guide: October, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved April 30, 2021.

[11] Ashley, Marlo (April 6, 2020). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[rs-12] Bernstein, Jonathan (April 3, 2020). "Ashley McBryde Tells Stories of Career Struggles and Small Town Drama on 'Never Will'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[13] Billboard Staff (June 9, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[14] Schwartz, Danny (June 17, 2020). "50 Best Albums of 2020 – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 18, 2020.

[15] "The 30 Best Albums of 2020". Spin. May 21, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[16] "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Stereogum. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[17] Aswad, Jem; Willman, Chris; Barker, Andrew (June 5, 2020). "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Variety. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[18] "Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2020.

[ac_Scotland_-19] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

[ac_UKCountry_-20] "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

[ac_Billboard200_Ashley_McBryde-21] "Ashley McBryde Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

[ac_BillboardCountry_Ashley_McBryde-22] "Ashley McBryde Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

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v t e Ashley McBryde
Discography
Studio albums	Girl Going Nowhere (2018) Never Will (2020) Lindeville (2022) The Devil I Know (2023)
EPs	Never Will: Live from a Distance (2021)
Songs	"A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega" "Girl Goin' Nowhere" "One Night Standards" "Martha Divine" "Never Wanted to Be That Girl" (with Carly Pearce) "Light On in the Kitchen"