The Dirt and the Stars is the 16th studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Lambent Light Records on August 7, 2020.
In a press release, Carpenter described the songs on the album as "very personal" and "difficult in some ways, and definitely come from places of pain and self-illumination, but also places of joy, discovery and the rewards of self- knowledge." She wrote the album at her Virginia farmhouse and recorded it at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios near Bath, England between January and February 2020 prior to lockdowns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bob Paxman of Sounds of Nashville gave The Dirt and the Stars a positive review, praising Carpenter for her ability to "[get] her message across with lyrical passages that could easily pass for straight poetry" and the album's cohesiveness that allows the songs to "build with nice opening sequences". Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, highlighting the use of Carpenter's "empathic" band to "erase all boundaries between singer and song", and describing it as one of her standout albums from her entire repertoire. Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork was similarly positive, giving the album a 7.7 out of 10. He wrote: "Three decades into her career, one of country musicâÂÂs most reliable and empathetic songwriters offers a profoundly intimate record, full of hushed revelations."
Credits adapted from the vinyl edition's liner notes and track listing.