Miranda Lambert has made a career pushing boundaries and making creative decisions with her music. She's the most awarded ACM artist in history and has been named the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year seven times for a reason. Her eighth studio album Palomino proves to not only be some of the best music she's ever put out but that she really is one of the strongest artists of her generation.
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Palomino was conceptualized back in 2020 when as a result of the pandemic, travel wasn't exactly an option. The idea of traveling through songs sparked the entire theme of Lambert's first solo album since her 2019 Grammy winner Wildcard.
"The making of this record has been one of the most fun and creative experiences of my career," Lambert said in a statement with Palomino's release. "Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby, and I went out to my farm in Tennessee in 2020 and started writing songs. Our trio is such an organic friendship that has turned out some of my favorite songs I've ever been a part of writing, so we figured, while we have time, let's get out to the country and see what happens."
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In addition to many new songs, Lambert also brought over three songs from 2021's The Marfa Tapes. She and her Marfa Tapes collaborators Jon Randall and Jack Ingram created something really special out under the West Texas skies. Though the simplicity of the originals really showed off Lambert's vocals as well as the trios lyrics, the new versions are really enhanced with the addition of a full band.
"I love everything about Marfa: some friends around a campfire, no fixes, no protocols, no filters. It was raw and real, and I wanted to take some of that with me," says Lambert. "'In His Arms,' 'Waxahachie' and 'Geraldene' got to go on this journey with us, cutting them with a full band - and usually the public doesn't get to hear that part, which I'm really excited about."
Palomino's 15 songs are full of interesting characters with great stories that really transport you on the journey Lambert has laid out for us. Check out our full song-by-song guide below.
"Actin' Up"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Jon Randall
- There are multiple fun name drops including Tiger Woods, Elvis, and Ricky Bobby (from Will Ferrell's comedy Talladega Nights)
- Standout line: "Even Tiger Woods couldn't swing it this good"
"Scenes"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- "Scenes" can only be described as the ultimate brokenhearted boogie, full of colorful characters crafted by Lambert, Dick, and Hemby including a trucker named Dwayne and a hippie named Katie with a K.
"In His Arms"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall
- One of three songs brought over from The Marfa Tapes
- Lambert sings of nostalgia for a past love, the simple melody and intimate style of the recording make you feel like you're being serenaded by a friend.
"Geraldene"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall
- One of three songs brought over from The Marfa Tapes
- Standout line: "You're trailer park pretty, but you're never gonna be Jolene"
"Tourist"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- This was the first song written for the album that helped create the overall theme
- Standout line: "I'll take a couple memories but I won't stay behind/I'll never be a number on a population sign"
"Music City Queen" feat. The B-52's
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- The album's press release describes it as a "funky Deee-Lite meets Creedence Clearwater Revival trip down the Cumberland River" which couldn't be more accurate
- "When Natalie, who is such a bad ass singer and the kind of person who raises the cool in every room, started singing 'Rollin' on the river...,' we were all like, 'What if the B-52s sing on this?'" Lambert says. "They loved the song. They Zoomed in with Luke and Jon and sang their part, which gives me so much joy. I missed their Zoom, 'cause I was on a plane; but to ZOOM the B-52s into your record? Yes, please."
"Strange"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- "The song 'Strange' came together in a really cool, organic way," Lambert told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. "Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick and I were out writing at my farm and Natalie had this really cool idea and melody and just the song title 'Strange'. And we were talking about all the strangeness going on in the world at the time. We did write it in 2020. And so we kind of wrote it towards addressing some heavy things, but mostly we want people to take away from this song to be lighter on their feet and take a breath and play a song and do a dance and maybe fly somewhere fun, just kind of escape from a reality that isn't too good."
"Wandering Spirit"
- This song was written by Mick Jagger and James Rippetoe
- Lambert admitted she was skeptical of doing a cover of Mick Jagger but Dick and Randall talked her into it. Now it's one of her favorites on the album.
- "No one can do anything like Mick Jagger," Lambert says. "It's like trying to do Dolly, it's not possible. So, find your own lane. And all I could think was Rosanne Cash's 'My Baby Thinks He's a Train,' which was so pumping. So, it was 'let's find that.' Let's add a little Hank Snow with 'I'm Movin' On,' maybe some serious church wailing... and maybe create a version that's ours."
"I'll Be Lovin' You"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Jon Randall
- One of the standout songs on the entire album, "I'll Be Lovin' You" is full of fun piano moments and electric guitar strums, showing off Lambert's edgier side that veers from a more traditional country sound.
"That's What Makes The Jukebox Play"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- This is another ballad of heartbreak but there's a strength in the laid-back recording of "That's What Makes The Jukebox Play." You can almost see the old bar dive bar full of interesting characters, expertly painted by Lambert and her co-writers in the lyrics.
- Standout line: "When you live like neon/ There's a song you can lean on"
"Country Money"
- Lambert co-wrote the song with Aaron Raitiere and Mikey Reaves
- "I've never laughed so hard, and every time I hear it, I get the biggest smile on my face," Lambert says. "I have this movie in my head: I picture a Cadillac with the top being chicken wire and Caylee Hammack and her chickens, records flying out the window, Ashley McBryde stepping her boots down and raising some dust getting out of some huge-ass truck, hauling her whole herd of cattle."These girls are all just badass and the fact that the song has all these girls, making their country money? While the combine's kicking up nickels right out of the dirt, it's frickin' fun and says everything about girls without making a big statement."
"If I Was A Cowboy"
- Lambert co-wrote the song with Jesse Frasure
- It's hard not to call this a countrified take on the central theme of Beyonce?'s "If I Were a Boy."
- "We [Jesse Frasure} met doing the remix of 'Tequila Does' and he and I just got together one afternoon for a write and this is what came out of it," Lambert said in a statement. "It's funny, he's a Detroit boy and I'm an East Texan, but somehow we wrote a song about the Wild West together."
"Waxahachie"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall
- One of three songs brought over from The Marfa Tapes
- Standout line: "Nobody ever left New Orleans as mad as I was'/I wrote a lipstick letter on the mirror with a bourbon buzz"
"Pursuit of Happiness"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- This breezy number and its twangy guitar are reminiscent of 80s country in the best way possible. Lambert sings of being constantly on the go, experiencing new places and experiences in the "pursuit of happiness."
"Carousel"
- Lambert co-wrote this song with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby
- "Every show must end, every circus leaves town." The stunning conclusion is a heartfelt ballad about a trapeze artist romance, the perfect way to wrap up all of the colorful characters we met throughout the album.
