The Cry of the Heart is the thirty-sixth solo studio album by American country music singer Connie Smith.

Connie Smith had not recorded a new album in over a decade[3] and had made her private life a priority above professional endeavors.

[4] Husband (and singer-songwriter) Marty Stuart encouraged Smith to return to the studio following a new tune written by songwriter Dallas Frazier.

[4] A live performance of Smith singing "A Million and One" on Stuart's televised country music show also prompted to pair to return to the studio and record an album based on it.

[3] The album was finished prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Smith chose to wait to release it until things began to "settle down".

The New York Times described the album as having "tender piano chords, steel guitars and lush analog quality recall Smith’s ’60s era recordings".

[8] Holmes had previously written popular songs recorded by several country artists including George Strait.

"Heart, We Did All That We Could" was first released as a single by Jean Shepard that reached the top 20 of the Billboard country chart.

The British-based Lyric Magazine praised the album's classic country style and found songs like "A Million and One" to cement "her mantle as the ‘Queen of Broken Hearts'."

The magazine concluded its review by comparing it to that of modern country music: "Her vocals, her delivery and her belief in these songs is what makes ‘The Cry of the Heart’ a special album and one that deserves to be listened with care and attention, something a lot of Country music fans find difficult in these days of streaming overload and TikTok demands.

Cober-Lake also found the album to evoke classic country music, but did not see it as a nostalgia record: "They avoid nostalgic traps without rejecting the past.

If you wanted to understand what traditional country is, you could go to the same place today as you could have 50 years ago: a Connie Smith record.

"[15] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic placed The Cry of the Heart on his "Best of 2021" albums list and rated it four stars.

Maybe her range has diminished, but her mastery of phrasing has not -- she digs into the heart of the songs, infusing them with style and emotion that resonates," he concluded.