Charlie Martin and Will Taylor have made another record together while raising young families. Big World, released in August 2026, follows their sprawling 2024 self-titled album with twelve shorter songs. The long partnership remains; the amount of space they give themselves has changed.
Most of the songs run around three minutes, and Life So Wide barely clears two. That is a substantial trim after a double album. The titles—What I Had, You Will Go Far, Give It Away—suggest the relationships and obligations Abby Jones examines in her Pitchfork review.
Jones describes an album concerned with becoming a better partner, parent and friend. She places the musicians together in Nashville and traces the lyrics to studio work over prepared instrumental pieces. Martin and Taylor established the musical setting before finding the words to put into it.
AllMusic’s Marcy Donelson distinguishes the sparse opening of Life So Wide from the more processed Untitled, with drum machines elsewhere between them. The compact format accommodates both approaches. Hovvdy have kept the collaboration going without repeating the scale of their previous record. For songs concerned with maintaining relationships, the continuing work between these two writers is a persuasive place to begin.