Lambert plays a winning hand in ‘Wildcard’
Making music was like a “therapy session” for moving on.
NEW YORK – Miranda Lambert didn’t have to look far to find inspiration for new album “Wildcard,” out Friday. ❚ Sitting at her label’s Manhattan office on a recent afternoon, the no-nonsense country singer rolls up her denim sleeve to reveal a tremendous tattoo of a queen of hearts playing card on her right arm, which she got last fall. ❚ Lambert, 35, says the intricate ink inspired a line on new song “Bluebird,” which in turn sparked the album title. (“And if the house just keeps on winning / I got a wild card up my sleeve.”)
“It felt like it captured the whole vibe of what this record is, because I’ve always pulled a wild card out of my sleeve or reinvented myself or gotten out of a bad situation somehow,” Lambert says. “And the Queen of Hearts is a reminder to be the queen of my own heart, so it’s all full circle.”
“Wildcard“is Lambert’s first solo effort since 2016’s “The Weight of These Wings,” which won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music awards and made its debut at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The new music is a culmination of her experiences in the past few years: returning to the dating scene after her divorce from country singer Blake Shelton in July 2015, and secretly
marrying Brendan McLoughlin, a New York police officer, this year.
She credits songwriting for helping her deal with heartbreak and unwanted media attention following her split from Shelton, whom she married in 2011. He went public with now-girlfriend and fellow “The Voice” judge Gwen Stefani in November 2015, just five months after divorcing Lambert.
“It was music, and using it as a healing device and like a therapy session,” Lambert says. “‘The Weight of These Wings’ was so good for me because I got to write it all down, and a lot of people tell me, ‘Thank
you, I needed that rec
ord, too.’ There’s so many layers to to life and emotions – and especially women. We’re a lot! We’re complicated individuals. So having music as my tool to move on was really a blessing.”
The songs on “Wildcard,” as a whole, are more playful than her last album, drawn from nights out barhopping with girlfriends and more time spent with McLoughlin in New York, which is “so full of energy and creativity,” but can also be “overwhelming sometimes,” says the Texas native.
“Dark Bars” and “Tequila Does” evocatively describe what she calls “chasing a kiss with a twist of lime,” while “We’re Too Pretty for Prison” is a cheeky girlpower anthem with fellow country star Maren Morris.
“I started out of the gate with this feisty, fiery personality,” says Lambert, who released debut album “Kerosene” in 2004. “In (2008 single) ‘Gunpowder & Lead,’ I was ready to kill this guy for abusing this girl, but now I’m too pretty for prison so I’d just hire somebody.”
Now in her mid-30s, “I also feel like I’m more willing to make fun of myself now and not take myself so seriously,” she continues. “I live and breathe country music, but I also don’t get wrapped up in every little thing. I’m just having fun with it.”
“Wildcard” also finds her working with more women, writing songs including “Fire Escape,” “Track Record” and lead single “It All Comes Out in the Wash” with female collective the Love Junkies. As one of the foremost women in country music – with two Grammys, 27 ACMs and 13 Country Music Association awards – she feels a responsibility to lift up other women in the genre, which has been criticized for ignoring female artists on radio.
“There’s plenty of room if people would let us on the chart,” Lambert says. “When I was coming up in my career, I was on tour with all men. I learned so much, but there was never a female mentor who could really talk me through what it’s like to be a girl in this position, so I’m hoping I can be that for some of these younger female artists coming up.”
Coming into the industry, “what shocked me most was the business of the music business: I thought it was more music, and I realized quickly that it’s more business,” she adds. “There’s a lot to navigate for male and female artists, but we just have to do it with heels on.”