(EBM) Miranda Lambert has never flinched when it comes to her music. Full-tilt, strong as hell, she's been the go-to woman for tender toughness and reckoning when it comes to no-good men. Having announced her alliance with Republic Records with strategic support from the Nashville-based Big Loud, the most-awarded artist in Academy of Country Music history and triple Grammy-winner now drops "Wranglers," her first single under her new deal.
A tour du force of empowerment in the face of a less than stand-up paramour, "Wranglers" burns like heatwaves in the desert - and announces the next wave of the maverick groundbreaker's creative sojourn. With tart vocals and electric barbed wire guitars turned up, the slow broil churn seizes on the slow death of love, the callousness of men who won't see and the strength of a woman who sets destiny in motion and survives in its wake.
"'Wranglers' is a classic tale of a woman taking her power back," Lambert says of the sizzling post-Outlaw classic. "I think we can all identify with the character in this song, because we have all had a time in our life where we needed to find our strength, and also get a little revenge on someone who did us wrong or hurt us. This offers such a cool, raging take on how something like this unravels; I think the songwriters nailed it."
Written by Audra Mae, who also sings on the track, Evan McKeever and Ryan Carpenter, "Wranglers" opens with a foreboding, brittle tangle of electric guitars that suggest Neil Young's Crazy Horse as much as Waylon Jennings in his prime. What emerges is a forceful kind of country that's as strong as it is hypnotic, delivering a hard-won freedom song for anyone leaving a situation that didn't serve them.
Working with fellow Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Jon Randall, they convened a band of iconic musicians at Austin's storied Arlyne Recording Studios. Given Lambert's passion for songs that cut straight into the gut, they created a sonic vista where consequences feel palpable; where Jedd Hughes and Ethan Ballinger's electric guitar convergence is as fraught as the fevered clouds of B-3 from Texas legend Bukka Allen. With Rachel Loy's bass lumbering across Conrad Choucroun's sticks-on-the-rims drum part, pressure builds as Lambert's siren's cry pulls listeners in. Heavy, but not gratuitous, there's a tension as Lambert half coos, half sings the kind of song that defined her career, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned/ When the knock down drag out's over/ And Lord knows she took one too many... "
"I am so proud to sing this song," Lambert says. "It feels like it could have been on the same record as 'Gunpowder & Lead' in a lot of ways. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned is a pretty powerful statement, and the way it's written, you can tell, we're not kidding."
Lambert debuted the song with a live performance at the Stagecoach Festival over the weekend, with the Tennessean praising the moment as kicking off "the next chapter of Miranda Lambert's legendary career" and Rolling Stone celebrating the live debut as "a smoldering track rooted firmly in one of Lambert's favorite topics, payback," with Variety proclaiming of the hit-packed set as a whole, "whoever the entertainer of the year may be at any given recent point, Lambert has a strong claim on being country's entertainer of the two-decades."
Now available on all streaming platforms, "Wranglers" displays Lambert's signature don't-tread-on-me ethos, but also suggests a creative force finding new levels. Having delivered the rowdy girl's soundtrack for almost two decades, the East Texas songwriter/superstar continues making music that speaks to the heart of women who love hard, live out loud and are fearless about how they take on the world around them.
"Country music at its core tells the truth about life, but it makes you feel something," Lambert says. "Sometimes you laugh. Sometimes you throw your fist in the air. Sometimes that fist goes through the wall. All I know is I've got a lot more to say, and a lot more music coming soon. So for anyone who's ever seen themselves in one of my songs, especially the rowdy ones, get ready! We wanted to come with something that really says something from the start. And there's a whole lot of feelings and rhythms and great playing to come."
Lambert was also recently announced as a performer at the upcoming ACM Awards, airing May 16 live from Ford Center at The Star in her home state of Texas, exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. In addition, her headlining live show returns to the road with a three-night stand at New Braunfels, Texas' iconic Whitewater Amphitheater later this month with coast-to-coast tour dates running throughout the summer plus major festivals including Rock the Country, Calgary Stampede, Under the Big Sky and more.
Upcoming Miranda Lambert Concert Dates
May 24-26 New Braunfels, Texas || Whitewater Amphitheater
June 7 Altoona, Penn. || People's Natural Gas Field
June 8 Mashantucket, Conn. || Foxwoods Resort Casino
June 29 Midland, Texas || Momentum Bank Ballpark
July 5 Hinckley, Minn. || Grand Casino Hinckley
July 6 Mt. Pleasant, Mich. || Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
July 12 Calgary, Alberta || Calgary Stampede
July 13 Whitefish, Mont. || Under the Big Sky Festival
July 17 Paso Robles, Calif. || California Mid-State Fair
July 20 Lincoln, Calif. || Thunder Valley
July 21 Highland, Calif. || Yaamava' Resort & Casino
July 26 Pearl, Miss. || Trustmark Park
July 27 Anderson, S.C. || Rock the Country Festival
Aug. 17 Springfield, Ill. || Illinois State Fair
Aug. 24 Houston, Texas || Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show
Aug. 30 Canandaigua, N.Y. || Constellation Brands Marvin Sands
Aug. 31 Atlantic City, N.J. || Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Sept. 27 Gautier, Miss. || The Sound Amphitheater
Sept. 28 Memphis, Tenn. || Autozone Park
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