Nothing about making Wildcard was easy for Miranda Lambert, which is why she is so eager to share it with her fans. The 14 songs, all co-written by Lambert, came while she was adjusting to a lot of changes in her life and career, including switching producers, from Frank Liddell to Jay Joyce, and marrying New York City police officer Brendan McLoughlin. The end result made all of the tracks honest, sometimes painfully so.
“You can’t just stay in your bubble,” Lambert told The Tennessean. “It’s a little uncomfortable for me to switch gears. [Jay Joyce] is switching gears. And New York City was switching gears. Getting married was switching gears. I feel like getting uncomfortable is a good thing. Especially being a creative, how are you going to reinvent if you never get out of your comfort zone? You need to get uncomfortable, and it is uncomfortable.”
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Lambert’s previous record, The Weight of These Wings, released in 2016, was uncomfortable in a different way. The songs, many written in response to her public split from fellow country singer Blake Shelton, showed fans a side of Lambert many hadn’t seen before. While the 35-year-old promises Wildcard is more upbeat than her last project, for Lambert, it’s just part of showing her fans who she really is, on and off the stage.
“I signed up to be honest, and I’ve gotta keep that promise,” Lambert noted. “Not every day is rainbows, they are here and there, and it’s worth it. I feel like I promised my fans that on my first record, and I haven’t strayed from that. If anything, I’ve dug deeper. It’s my job, ya know.”
From the serious “Bluebird,” to the rocking “Mess With My Head,” and her humorous current single, “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” Lambert took care to make sure each song said exactly what she wanted to say, in the way she wanted to say it.
“It’s really important for people to know where the song comes from,” Lambert admitted. “We don’t just sit in a room and write songs like a machine. … We craft with so much care and detail. I care so much about the lyrics, even on the fun songs and the feisty songs and the sad ones. Those lyrics are a window into my soul.”
Pre-order Wildcard by visiting Lambert’s website.
Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Winter
