Tracklist & Songwriters for Miranda Lambert’s New Album “Wildcard”
Miranda Lambert’s latest album will be called Wildcard, and it will be released November 1st via Vanner Records/RCA Nashville. The new album was officially announced on Thursday (8-15) along with the release of now a fourth song from the record called “Bluebird” (listen below). It joins “Locomotive,” “Mess With My Head,” and the current radio single “It All Comes Out in the Wash” as pre-album releases.
“When people listen to this record, I want them to know that I see them and hear them,” said Miranda in a press release. “I feel you, because I’m just a girl from East Texas, writing about all the things that go on in my world and in the worlds of people around me. I want people to get along, you know, just be who you are, own it and move on from the moments you couldn’t live in.”
Along with the album release date and artwork, we also get to see track list and songwriting collaborators Miranda Lambert worked with on the album. Notable names include the “Love Junkies,” a.k.a. Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose contributing multiple songs; Highwomen member Natalie Hemby appears on five tracks, fellow Pistol Annies member Ashley Monroe appears on a couple of tracks, solo performers and previous Miranda Lambert collaborators Brent Cobb and Jack Ingram pick up credits, as does well-respected songwriter Jon Randall. Miranda Lambert co-writes every song on the record.
A regular champion of quality songwriters, Wildcard will be no different, even if the sound and approach is. A long time collaborator with producer Frank Liddell, Miranda went with well-known mainstream country producer Jay Joyce on the upcoming record. Where Liddell is known for being a loose and organic producer, and for being the husband of Lee Ann Womack, the reputation for Jay Joyce is of more of a rocker, primarily from his work with Eric Church and Ashley McBryde. This new approach has definitely come out in the debut tracks from the record, with an especially rock edge to “Locomotive” and “Mess With My Head.”
Miranda told the Chicago Sun-Times in June about the record, “I would call it old Miranda, but a Miranda at a whole new level, if that makes any sense. It’s not going to be love song overload or anything like that. [Laughs] I made a career on being a rock and roller and I think fans are going to hear that throughout. And yeah, there is this vibe of being happy that goes through this album. I am really, really happy.”
Wildcard is now available for pre-order.
Wildcard Tracklist & Songwriters:
- “White Trash” (Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby, Laura Veltz)
- “Mess With My Head” (Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby)
- “It All Comes Out in the Wash” (Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
- “Settling Down” (Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby)
- “Holy Water” (Lambert, Brent Cobb, Mike Harris, Joshua Taylor)
- “Way Too Pretty for Prison” (Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
- “Locomotive” (Lambert, Ashley Monroe, K.S. Rhoads)
- “Bluebird” (Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby)
- “How Dare You Love” (Lambert, Jamie Kinney, Ashley Monroe)
- “Fire Escape” (Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
- “Pretty Bitchin’” (Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby, Jon Randall)
- “Tequila Does” (Lambert, Jon Randall, Jack Ingram)
- “Track Record” (Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
- “Dark Bars” (Lambert, Liz Rose)
August 15, 2019 @ 7:08 pm
I really like “Bluebird.” I hear a tinge of “Rollin’ With the Flow” in there. I like this much better than the first few songs released.
August 15, 2019 @ 7:22 pm
I agree…Bluebird feels much more like a Miranda song IMO. I still think though she has peaked in her career. I don’t see this album being as successful as her prior ones given that it doesn’t appear to be authentic country.
August 16, 2019 @ 4:33 am
It’s a shame, but I feel she is more tabloid fodder now than country music darling. Her stans will take an interest in the album, but what about everyone else? I am hoping for more “Bluebird” less “Locomotive” on the rest of the album. However, “Wings” was ignored by radio and sold really well because- I think- it was more traditional. Many of these cuts on “Wildcard,” and the addition of Joyce as producer, seems like she is trying to fit in at radio. The people who loved “Wings” aren’t going to buy that, and radio may be done with her, regardless.
August 15, 2019 @ 7:19 pm
“Mess with My Head” nearly had me hitting the eject button. It sounds dated like 2001 Avril Lavigne dated. But, “Bluebird” got me back interested again.
August 15, 2019 @ 7:34 pm
Man, I agree. I don’t think you can get too emotional one way or another about early release songs, but I didn’t get that one. It’s mid August and we’ve already heard four songs from this record. I’m not sure if they were planning to release “Bluebird” now, or if they called an audible after “Mess With My Head” was poorly received. Once again, A&R in modern country, mainstream or independent, is a dead art form.
August 15, 2019 @ 7:53 pm
I actually enjoyed Mess With My Head more than any of the other singles she released so far. But I agree, I’m sick and tired of the day of the album release there’s only like 3 “new” songs for me to hear. I usually avoid pre-released songs unless it’s clearly the 1 lead single. I avoided “House Fire” and “All Your’n” by Tyler Childers until listening to them in context with the album and I think I am a lot better off for it. A lot of people are led astray by singles out of the format of an album. Then you have people either already expecting a disappointment or a masterpiece based off songs out of order and out of context
August 15, 2019 @ 9:18 pm
You guys are both preaching to the choir about early song release bullshit. It throws off my whole system!! This NEVER used to happen or be the norm.
1 song that’s a single…I get it!! After that??? NO!!! I heard this “Mess With My Head” Pop garbage a few days ago and I was just waiting for someone on here to say something?!!! I’m like….maybe nobody heard it yet?…lol That’s after I’d actually warmed up a bit to “Wash” after a few spins and now I’m like WTF??? Trigs right these companies and A&R chodes have no idea what they’re doing or the damage they do.
August 15, 2019 @ 10:42 pm
Ha, I trolled the “mess with my head” a bit in the Cody Jinks comments, but nobody gave a nibble. Google pushed that song at me a few days ago, but I didn’t dig it.
I’m beginning to think of this album as Miranda’s “got the hell out of Oklahoma”/ Madison Avenue Debutante project. She’s way beyond hanging out with the Bone Collectors now.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:27 am
But mess with my head wasn’t poorly received. It is the best selling song on iTunes (among the first 3 released songs). I like it as a song (because it’s different and also I can already picture a meme video in my head) even if it’s not even remotely country.
Someone needs to find what what’s going on with Sony cause old dominion just released a preorder for their album and close to half of the songs were released with the preorder, Maren Morris just released a BORING video and there was no reason for Luke Combs to release that EP….
August 16, 2019 @ 12:03 pm
First off, iTunes numbers, especially these days, is really not a good register of public sentiment. That said, even if “Mess With My Head” is popular to the wider public, it’s at the expense of Miranda’s grassroots, which is a dangerous path to go down. Singles are for the wide public. Album cuts are for your true fans. Nonetheless, I want to listen to the song in the context of the record before I make any final judgements on it.
August 15, 2019 @ 7:28 pm
Ugh. Based on the releases I am no longer excited about this record. I love Miranda but it’s clear she went pop which for some strange reason has me feeling extremely disappointed… Oddly disappointed. Almost like a personal strike lol.
It All Comes Out In The Wash – I like the energy, message, it’s fun & funny. I don’t mind the production on this one because of the saving grace of the twang in her voice
Locomotive – I understand & like the message however lyrically it’s weak & I don’t care for the rock production
Mess With My Head – lyrically weak & annoyingly too repetitive & don’t care for the pop production
Bluebird – I didn’t listen to the whole song. I couldn’t get passed the pop production but what I listened to lyrically I like the message of the song.
I know I will give this record at least 1 listen hoping she will have something sonically I like… basically some country music. If those songs exist I will extract them from the rest of the record and add to my playlist. Here’s to hope!
I don’t know what to make of her new direction or reinvention of herself. Hopefully just a 1 record phase. Does she think the pop is going to appeal to a ton of new fans? Her stans will buy/ stream regardless of the genre. Is she trying what’s popular to help with radio, record/ song streams? To help sell concert tickets? Just seems like a 180 for her. I am a relatively new Miranda fan. I became a fan after hearing ‘Vice’ on the radio. I ended up looking the song up on YouTube which next brought me to her live award show version of Tin Man – I was wowed. I looked up her popular songs & realized I actually had heard a lot of her stuff on radio & liked it but I use to be one of those casual music listeners that never really was too engaged on what the radio was playing (didn’t like most the music) but too lazy to search for what I actually liked. Her first record I listened to was ‘Wings’ then went to all her other records. She has a lot of country. Not all country but a lot. I actually discovered this web site because my stalker phone suggested an article of Miranda from here and have since given up on what radio is offering and I have found so much music I actually like the past few years from here.. I’m rambling.. basically sucks the new music is pop.
Thanks for letting me vent!
August 15, 2019 @ 8:53 pm
Bluebird isn’t pop at all. It fits in quite nicely with classic Miranda. You need to listen to her whole discography.
If you think this is too pop then listen to what females radio actually plays like Carrie, Maren, Kelsea and you will find it’s not that pop compared to their music.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:20 am
I do agree, bluebird is really great song. If you don’t like that song, something is wrong. It’s Miranda 100%, And I don’t dislike the other three she has put out. It’s not like she didn’t say she was going in a different direction. She was with Frank for a long time and needed a change. Nothing wrong with getting out of your lanes and experimenting. I think this album will be stellar and I think Miranda gets better and better. Feel like she is just getting started, and She is way above
what I hear from others. Love Miranda and love the new songs..
August 15, 2019 @ 8:56 pm
“Bluebird” is 10x better than the other pre-release songs, but dear God has the production been bad on all of them. Jay Joyce was a bad choice.
August 15, 2019 @ 9:15 pm
To people calling this pop….what era of pop do you mean? Like Natalie Imbruglia 90s pop?
With all that talent in the songwriting department, seems to me only some misguided production could keep it from being a decent mainstream record.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:32 am
The drum beat sounds just a little too perfect to me, and there are some “Nashville Sound” orchestral strings but it’s a stretch to call that pop in 2019. Best song released so far but “Mess with My Head” was terrible IMO. Agreed on the songwriting seems like it could have been so much better.
August 15, 2019 @ 10:14 pm
I’ve always thought she lacked any kind of lyrical depth or introspection. I thought maybe she would grasp that now in her middle 30’s but I’m not hearing it. Sucks. I’d like a little more here’s my reality and a little less vague descriptions of why in a naughty girl.
August 16, 2019 @ 7:04 am
You must be listening to someone else thinking it is Miranda… there are a bunch of amazing lyrical examples on every single record.
August 15, 2019 @ 10:21 pm
“It All Comes Out In The Wash” has a fun, swing beat to it. I enjoy this song. I’m hearing something different in it every time I hear it.
“Bluebird” is a nice, mid-tempo song and I like the lyrics.
I haven’t heard the others yet but I’m hoping the rest of the CD is different in a good way.
August 15, 2019 @ 10:33 pm
i THINK this is a happy song . i THINK.
i like the vibe…very ‘musgraves’…..if a little dark-sounding
but it doesn’t go anywhere dynamically …just kind of lopes along . i like her vocal but it doesn’t challenge her in terms of emotion or melodic range.
and if it IS a happy song , why that dissonant minor chord as the last thing we hear ?
i think its a lyric looking for a different music track ….
still one of the best and most recognizeable voices in music , IMHO
August 16, 2019 @ 1:55 am
The album cover is a 10/10.
August 16, 2019 @ 4:30 am
Someone’s trying hard to stay relevant.
So far…it’s not my kind of music.
August 16, 2019 @ 5:05 am
No plugging of other records? I am disappointed
August 16, 2019 @ 7:12 am
Tracy Lawrence dropped a new record today 😉
August 16, 2019 @ 8:23 am
Trying to stay relevant. She is very much relevant !! I don’t understand people at all..
August 16, 2019 @ 5:10 am
I actually really love Mess With My Head. It’s not country but has a 2000’s Kelly Clarkson vibe to it which I am partial to but I understand why others won’t. I think the lyrics in the verses are strong; They are an indication of Lambert’s headspace. Comparing her head/mental state to a perfectly kept living room is brilliant. It’s showing a person who trashes Lambert’s headspace like they would an untidy room. Simple yet effective in my opinion. Links quite nicely to It’ll All Come Out in the Wash and it’s domestic side. Giving us an insight into Lambert’s life. It’s definitely a radio choice as it is quite directly pop but the songwriting is still there.
August 16, 2019 @ 7:06 am
I like it too. It leans pop, but I enjoy the production. The steel guitar in the middle is great. I agree that it’s annoying to hear four songs this early, but also, that leaves 10 more we haven’t heard (the size of most new albums)
August 17, 2019 @ 9:11 am
Totally agree. I have no problem with a 2000s pop sound haha It’s fun and energetic. I listened to Mess With My Head on repeat for a while.
August 16, 2019 @ 5:17 am
Whole lotta meh so far.
August 16, 2019 @ 6:02 am
Selling sex, like always. She has never actually looked like that for one second of her life.
August 16, 2019 @ 6:47 am
The re-toucher should get a Grammy for that Photoshop work.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:22 am
Yes he should. I like that cover.
August 16, 2019 @ 11:55 am
Sorry, but I’ve seen ML up close and personal and she looks even better in real life. Y’all sound like a bunch of bitter, ugly people.
August 16, 2019 @ 12:25 pm
If she was wearing a visor, she’d look like the third basemen on your local fast-pitch softball team. If you don’t want people commenting on your looks, don’t dress up like Mona Stangley on your album covers.
August 16, 2019 @ 6:50 am
Not heard anything so far that has really gotten my interest. Bluebird sounds like she’s chasing Kacey Musgraves IMO.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:23 am
Exactly what I was thinking.
August 19, 2019 @ 1:46 pm
Musgraves has been chasing Miranda for years…they sound nothing alike and the style is different.
August 16, 2019 @ 7:07 am
I agree A&R is dead, and it is frustrating to have four songs at this point. Hopefully there aren’t more. But also, there are ten more that we haven’t heard. I love the single and the rest have been ok; looking at the songwriter line-up, I have faith this will still be a strong project.
August 16, 2019 @ 10:15 am
“Frustrating” is the way I’d put it also. I wish they only released the single then the released the rest as the entire album. I try my best to not listen to the early song releases until the album comes out but it’s hard not to hear it when you’re scrolling Instagram or shuffling playlists.
August 16, 2019 @ 7:50 am
The songs that have been released are just terrible! I don’t understand how a person who is a fan of John Moreland, and a person who works with other great artists, can put out such terrible songs. These are awful. I thought her last album was decent, but this is shaping up to be one hundred percent dog doo doo
August 16, 2019 @ 8:33 am
yeah ….that’s an ongoing source of bewilderment for me as well , hayes. so many great writers flying under the radar and we get so few SOLID albums from ANYONE of note .
wtf ….?
the only rationale that makes any sense to me is that the artists need to step back from the writing and song selection/production process and let a skilled set of ears orchestrate things like in the old days ( yes ……i used the word ‘ old ‘ ) . look at what carl jackson put together with glen’s last record . look at what david foster did with ( band name here …there were lots ) …how’ bout quincy jones and mj ?……spector’s productions in the 60’s/70’s . …..chuck ainley ( ? ) with strait’s stuff with little writing input from george for many years , owen bradey ..etc. where are the skilled , veteran ears ? how do 30 or 40 laymen listeners in an SCM forum come to the same conclusion about so many mediocre songs while the artists and co. don’t seem to get it . they are not finding and recording the best material around and its not even hooky throw-away pop much of the time . its just non-de-script generic-sounding filler . why ?
August 16, 2019 @ 12:55 pm
For sure! I just don’t get it…
August 16, 2019 @ 8:26 am
Mess with My Head sounds something like a Pat Benatar or Sheena Easton record from the early 80s.
August 18, 2019 @ 1:41 pm
Maybe like a C-side cut.
August 16, 2019 @ 8:33 am
No mention of Luke Dick in the collaborators? The disrespect.
August 16, 2019 @ 9:04 am
Like the tracklist, seems like she’s going for a more fun album this time around. Usual suspects for cowriters but I like most of them.
Agree that the pre-release songs have been forgettable. I didn’t think it was possible for me to not love Miranda singing about being a hot mess over rockish production but nothing has hit so far, still gotta listen to Bluebird tho.
August 16, 2019 @ 9:07 am
Bluebird is a good track, but Less With My Head is the first Lambert track that I strongly dislike.
Slick, over produced pop. She’s claimed it has a rock edge, but if it ever did it’s been buried under layers of pop production. Hopefully there’s not many other tracks like that one on the album.
After hearing the first four tracks, I’d have to say I’m not happy with her choice for the producer on this album. He’s taken a super talented singer/songwriter and wrapped her up tight in shiny plastic.
August 16, 2019 @ 9:38 am
I’d say the reason they released this song now is as a promotional ploy as its where they pulled the name of the new album from. I actually really like Bluebird where the last 3 songs (especially Locomotive bleh!) haven’t tickled me in any good spots (and Miranda generally tickles me!)
I say it every time I comment on a post about her but I’d love to see Miranda going back to something like her self titled debut! Love her but I’m a little bit over the whole “I’m a badass” barrow she keeps pushing. Give me more “The House That Built Me”, “Famous in a Small Town”, “Virginia Bluebell”, “New Strings” or “Somebody Else” and less gimmicky songs.
August 18, 2019 @ 4:45 pm
I agree. Don’t get me wrong, I love Gunpowder & Lead and Kerosene, but I think “Dear Diamond”, “Well-Rested”, “The House That Built Me”, etc is where she’s at her absolute best.
August 16, 2019 @ 11:15 am
With Joyce producing, I was hoping she’d have an Eric Church or Brothers Osborne collaboration. No luck this time.
August 16, 2019 @ 11:37 am
I am a huge fan of hers, and I am happy that she is finally happy. But unfortunately, this doesn’t work. You can’t ask for a better team of writers, but the delivery of these early released songs are not good.. I struggle to put words to what is wrong, it is just a bit flat and uninspired?
I predict that Hailey Whitters will make the best Miranda Lambert record this year..
August 16, 2019 @ 2:00 pm
The common thread of dislike for me on these songs is the production. Way too much cotton candy and caramel sauce; where’s the steak and potatoes?
August 16, 2019 @ 6:45 pm
The electronic drum beats aren’t doing this album any favors. This sounds like Miranda Lambert trying to reinvent herself. Yes its sounds like the “old” Miranda, but with a modern twist and it comes off as shallow and uninspired. Trying to fit in with country radio is not the way to go.
August 16, 2019 @ 10:58 pm
“I miss the days when the women were ugly…and the men were all 40 years old….”
August 17, 2019 @ 9:10 am
I’ve enjoyed all of the released singles so far. I listen to them on repeat. I like the rock sound. She should do what feels right for her. I definitely look forward to the new album.
August 19, 2019 @ 6:37 am
What happened to a track called “Trouble in Tacoma” ML penned ?https://repertoire.bmi.com/ListView.aspx?torow=25&fromrow=1&page=1
August 20, 2019 @ 12:24 pm
Appears she chose not to record it. I remember reading a few years ago she penned like 60 songs for her ‘Wings’ record but obviously didn’t record all of them. Songs get left off for various reasons. I believe the song you are referring to was rumored to be about & written when she was with Evan Felker. I imagine since she is now married to someone else she felt it was wise to leave that song/ moment as part of her past and focus on a different person/ theme for the new record.
August 19, 2019 @ 8:21 pm
Musgraves has been chasing Miranda for years…they sound nothing alike and the style is different.