Country star Lainey Wilson is set to embark on a new musical journey with her upcoming album, “Whirlwind.” The Grammy-winning singer revealed the track list for her fifth studio album on social media, sharing a video that unveiled the titles of the 14 new songs. The clip also featured a snippet of the unreleased track “4x4xU.”
Wilson expressed how writing and recording these songs over the past couple of years has helped her stay grounded. “This album brought me back to my roots and made me feel at home during times when I couldn’t have been further away,” she wrote. “My biggest hope is that it gives you that same sense of comfort that it has for me.”
“Whirlwind” follows Wilson’s 2022 album “Bell Bottom Country,” which earned her a Grammy Award for Best Country Album and a trio of Top 5 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
The full track list for “Whirlwind” includes:
1. Keep Up With Jones
2. Country’s Cool Again
3. Good Horses (featuring Miranda Lambert)
4. Broken Hearts Still Beat
5. Whirlwind
6. Call a Cowboy
7. Hang Tight Honey
8. Bar in Baton Rouge
9. Counting Chickens
10. 4x4xU
11. Ring Finger
12. Middle of It
13. Devil Don’t Go There
14. Whiskey Colored Crayon
Wilson announced the album’s release on social media in May, sharing the significance of its title. “Whirlwind. That’s what my life has been the last couple years,” she wrote. “I hope this record brings peace to your ‘whirlwind’ and wraps its arms around you like it did me when I was writing and recording it.”
In an interview with Billboard, Wilson elaborated on how the rapid pace of her life inspired the album’s title. “Whether I’m running into somebody and they’re saying, ‘Man, your life has been a whirlwind’ — or whether the word’s coming out of my mouth, or I open a book and see the word ‘whirlwind,’ it just seems to be surrounding me,” she said. “Whirlwinds cause turbulence that cause chaos. But at the end of the day, you figure out how to come back to the center.”
Wilson has already given fans a taste of “Whirlwind” with the release of “Country’s Cool Again” in February. Following the album announcement, “Hang Tight Honey” was released as the lead single on May 13, peaking at No. 19 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. The next single, “4x4xU,” is set to be released on July 4.
“Whirlwind” will be available on August 23, 2024, and is currently available for pre-save and pre-order. The album will include a bonus track titled “Whirlwind (Stripped).”
Wilson’s new album follows the success of “Bell Bottom Country,” which saw her win multiple awards, including Best Country Album at the Grammys, Album of the Year at the ACM Awards, and Album of the Year at the CMA Awards. The 16-track album also achieved significant chart success, peaking at #35 in Australia, #9 on the US Top Country Albums Chart, and #2 on the UK Country Albums Chart.
In addition to her musical achievements, Wilson was crowned Entertainer of the Year at the recent CMA Awards and made her way to Australia for the first time, to great success.
Wilson has shared that her forthcoming album features 14 songs and includes a collaboration with Miranda Lambert on the track “Good Horses.” She expressed her excitement about the new album on Instagram, stating, “Writing & recording these 14 songs over the past couple of years has helped me stay grounded in ways you’d never believe. This album brought me back to my roots and made me feel at home during times when I couldn’t have been further away, and my biggest hope is that it gives you that same sense of comfort that it has for me.”
“Whirlwind” will be released via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville on August 23, 2024. The album is expected to be a blend of Wilson’s classic country sound with an eclectic variety of genres, staying true to her roots.
Earlier in 2024, Wilson confirmed she was hard at work on her keenly awaited follow-up to “Bell Bottom Country,” releasing the project’s lead single, “Country’s Cool Again,” on February 16. The song highlights the recent resurgence of country in mainstream music.
During her 2024 run of shows across the U.S., Wilson treated fans to a sneak peek of a few songs from the album, including a rowdy party song called “Bell Bottoms Up” and a cinematic ballad called “Good Horses” featuring Miranda Lambert. She also debuted the moving love song “4×4 By You,” which pays homage to her upbringing and professes her love for her life partner.
In an interview with Holler, Wilson revealed that fans can expect more love songs on the new album, drawing inspiration from her boyfriend of over two years, Devlin “Duck” Hodges. She emphasized that she wrote more than 300 songs for “Bell Bottom Country,” even though only 16 made the cut. This approach seems to be continuing with “Whirlwind,” as Wilson aims to show growth through her lyrics, singing, and storytelling.
As fans eagerly await the release of “Whirlwind,” one thing is certain: it will be full of country gold.
Source: USA Today, Billboard, Holler
