Throughout her album 29: Written in Stone, Carly Pearce took fans on an emotional and honest journey through divorce. She used the project to process her feelings and deal with the heartache that a marital split can bring — Pearce herself went through divorce in 2020.
Although vulnerable with her fans, she was guarded in love … until now.
In what could be a lead single off of a forthcoming album, “Trust Issues” finds Pearce turning the page in her love life to a new chapter. Despite the negative feelings a title like that can incite, the Kentucky native is opening her heart to love once again. It’s a new direction for Pearce, both personally and professionally.
“I felt very overwhelmed when I first started writing — just, you know, what this direction was,” she says in an interview about her first Grammy nomination. “And I wrote in my phone, ‘trust issues.'”
“That’s kind of on the theme of, you never know how hurt you are until you try to love somebody else,” Pearce says, “But I wanted to spin it into a hopeful and happy thing, because I love titles where you look at them and you think it’s gonna be one thing, but it’s a totally different thing.”
The song carries a theme of redemption: This new love feels like it’s bringing Pearce back to life — caring for the wounds of her past.
“So I got in the room with two of my favorite people, [songwriters] Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds, and we crafted this song that felt so hopeful. It’s a love song, but it’s a love song out of pain,” she explains. “And I remember when we wrote it — I see my albums in pictures, and I thought this was such an important facet to this transitional period of my life — of moving on.”
Keeping with her current theme, the song is deeply personal for the “What He Didn’t Do” singer. She has shared a little bit about a new flame in her life, Riley King, a Nashville real estate agent. Although her social media posts of the couple are few and far between, King has shared fairly regularly about them as a couple: He was by her side at various awards shows in 2022 as well as various shows, most recently Crash My Playa in Cancun, Mexico.
While she is working on a new album, Pearce has yet to reveal concrete details about the project. She did however, share “Trust Issues” with fans at a recent performance:
Carly Pearce’s ‘Trust Issues” Lyrics:
I already told you about my mama / And she already knows all about you / She don’t recognize her daughter / With her guard down / Already spending every weekend / Waking up laying next to you / Already jumping in the deep end / Ain’t it crazy now
Chorus:
To ever think that I had trust issues / In a matter of one kiss you / Got me turning one night into / Maybe the rest of my life / I haven’t even said I love you / But I’m thinking that I want to / Cause you’re making me forget who / Ever gave me these trust issues
Repeat Chorus
Getting back to never asking / Where you’re going or where you’ve been / I don’t have to be holding your hand when / Some other girls around / I didn’t think twice about calling you mine / And baby it blows my mind
Repeat Chorus
I look in your eyes and it’s almost like / My heart’s never been broke before / All the issues / And how bad I miss you / Every time you walk out that door
Repeat Chorus