Dixie Chicks Announce New Release Date for Upcoming Album ‘Gaslighter’

The Dixie Chicks have officially announced a new release date for their album Gaslighter, which was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the group revealed the album will arrive on July 17, sharing a photo of three young Irish dancers each wearing a sash. The sashes combined to read July 17, 2020, and each young dancer’s face was covered with a childhood photo of one of the members of the band. The word “Gaslighter” was spelled out behind the girls in bold pink font.

The album was originally scheduled to be released on May 1 but delayed for an unspecified amount of time. A statement from Columbia Records at the time shared that “the release of their highly anticipated fifth studio album, GASLIGHTER originally scheduled to drop on May 1, 2020, via Columbia Records, has been postponed. Additional details are forthcoming.” Gaslighter will be the Chicks’ first album in 14 years after their 2006 effort Taking the Long Way. Band members Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Strayer released the project’s lead single, “Gaslighter,” in March and followed it with the new song “Julianna Calm Down” last month.

“Gaslighter” is a scorching track based on band member Natalie Maines’ divorce from her ex-husband, while “Julianna Calm Down” is an uplifting message named after band member Emily Strayer’s daughter. “We actually have a song called ‘Julianna Calm Down,’ and that’s my daughter’s name,” Strayer told Zane Lowe on Apple Music. “She was a little mortified at the beginning. But now every time she gets all worked up, her brothers are like, ‘Julianna, calm down.’ So she’s a little mortified about that but it’s a good start to the song. It is exciting since we’ve been working on it for two years.”

Maines, Strayer and bandmate Martie Maguire told Lowe that their families contributed to their long absence from the music industry. “Well the kids, our nine kids collectively are why we paused for so long,” Maguire said. “And, I’m finding out that teenagers are a lot harder than babies. Not any easier.” “Babies pull you off the road,” Maines added. “Teenagers push you back on… My boys are actually really supportive and really excited for the music and they are fans, they’re not too cool to like their mom’s job.”

“Well, we’re definitely out of practice,” Strayer added of releasing new music. “It’s just as painful as it was to do all the artwork. We check our own typeset and we do all of that and so it’s a little bit nerve-wracking.”