Miranda Lambert – Postcards From Texas (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 45:30 minutes | 565 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Republic Records
Postcards from Texas captures the country siren’s freewheeling, funny, at times feisty take on swing, shuffles, bluegrass and ballads with unbridled gusto. Co-produced with Jon Randall, Postcards delivers Lambert’s glorious, wild Lone Star freedom.
Miranda Lambert went back to her roots for her 10th album, recording the whole shebang in Texas. In many ways, it’s a love letter to her home state, packed with Lone Star name drops, guests and hat tips. Right out of the gate, she wheels out humor in the vein of fellow native Lyle Lovett, with “Armadillo”—a shaggy dog story, only it’s an “armadillo with a doobie and a coldie in a coozie” on the lam, and the “armadamnadillo had a gun.” It’s a little jug band, a little jam shuffle, and a little dumb-ditties novelty. She references the city of Pecos on “No Man’s Land” and leans into Texas swing on “Looking Back on Luckenbach,” a misty, beer-colored memory with happily woozy guitar and a dash of Don Williams nostalgia. Ascendant star Parker McCollum drops by for the pretty, melancholy-tinged ballad “Santa Fe,” his and Lambert’s twin East Texas twangs a soulful complement. “Alimony”—a clever co-write with mega talents Natalie Hemby and Shane McAnally—is inspired by wild and wooly divorce cases her parents handled while working as private investigators in Dallas. “If you’re gonna leave me in San Antone, remember the alimony,” Lambert sings with a grin and a wink while yee-haw barrelhouse piano, courtesy of Texas musician Bukka Allen (son of outlaw country songwriter Terry Allen), sets up the line-dancing mood. Lambert co-produced the record with repeat collaborator Jon Randall, one of her musical partners, along with Jack Ingram, on the wonderful The Marfa Tapes. Here, Randall and Ingram co-wrote “I Hate Love Songs,” which would have been right at home on The Weight of These Wings, and “Wildfire,” a lovely mid-tempo ballad that feels like the aural equivalent of a Texas sunset. Freewheeling “Dammit Randy” buzzes with big ‘80s country radio energy, an empowerment kiss off to a man who never listened to what she had to say (“I hope you’re countin’ singles in your double wide/ Smoking cigarettes like they’re going out of style/ Turning me up on your radio dial”). The gentle jangle of love song “January Heart” evokes the Lilith Fair alt-country rock of Shawn Colvin or Paula Cole. “Wranglers” slithers and slams as Lambert tackles a familiar topic: revenge; she’s compared it to her 2008 hit “Gunpowder & Lead” and it ends with her cackling about this “wannabe Marlboro man.” And she sounds great singing over killer Southern rock guitar and ambling piano on a cover of David Allan Coe’s outlaw anthem “Living on the Run.” – Shelly Ridenour
Tracklist:
1-1. Miranda Lambert – Armadillo (02:16)
1-2. Miranda Lambert – Dammit Randy (02:59)
1-3. Miranda Lambert – Looking Back On Luckenbach (03:15)
1-4. Miranda Lambert – Santa Fe (03:03)
1-5. Miranda Lambert – January Heart (04:13)
1-6. Miranda Lambert – Wranglers (Extended) (03:13)
1-7. Miranda Lambert – Run (02:43)
1-8. Miranda Lambert – Alimony (03:15)
1-9. Miranda Lambert – I Hate Love Songs (03:35)
1-10. Miranda Lambert – No Man’s Land (03:43)
1-11. Miranda Lambert – Bitch On The Sauce (Just Drunk) (02:38)
1-12. Miranda Lambert – Way Too Good At Breaking My Heart (03:30)
1-13. Miranda Lambert – Wildfire (03:31)
1-14. Miranda Lambert – Living On The Run (03:30)
