Melissa Etheridge digs deep into feelings of pain, loss and love on her 17th album Rise—the rocker’s first since 2021’s One Way Out—emerging gracefully on the other side (or as she and duet partner Chris Stapleton call it, “The Other Side of Blue”, a heartfelt rumination on being present in the moment). Etheridge’s gravelly tone and full-throated growls and howls latch naturally to her blend of folk, country and rock for a record, co-produced with Shooter Jennings, that vacillates between the ebbs (the grief-stricken “Call You”) and flows (the grateful “Bein’ Alive”) of life. Vintage Etheridge shines through here—take “If You Ever Leave Me”, a maturation of “I’m the Only One”; or the bluesy “Don’t You Want a Woman”; or the honky-tonk licks of “Davina”. But all revolve around the title track’s poignant message: “Gonna fall to the earth sometimes/You’re gonna taste the dirt sometimes/You’re gonna really hurt sometimes/You’re gonna feel just like you’re dying/Then you’re gonna rise.”