Lauren Alaina says her just-announced new album is personal, and the first song from the project is all the proof we need to believe her. "It Was Me" is an honest apology to an ex about why things ended: "No, it wasn't you I didn't love," Alaina sings, "It was me."

Throughout the new song, over a simple, acoustic guitar line, Alaina looks back at the messy end of the relationship — there was name-calling and slamming doors — with regret. "If I'm being honest, boy / I wasn't being that honest, boy," she now admits.

"Had some ghosts in my closet I had to set free / Had to unpack that baggage, boy / Yeah, I had to drown out all the noise," Alaina sings in the chorus, later confessing that her actions were a product of her own insecurities. "But," she adds, "you didn't break me / So how could you save me?"

"It Was Me" is one of 15 songs on Alaina's forthcoming album, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World. The project follows her two 2020 EPs, Getting Good and Getting Over Him, and is described in a press release as her "most personal and soul-shifting album" to date.

"It’s about a dreamer becoming an achiever. It’s being broken and ending up healed," Alaina says. "It’s all of me. The early chapters. The new beginnings. The hope for the future and total appreciation for the past."

Of Sitting Pretty ...'s 15 songs, 12 are brand new. The other three are previously released collaborations with Lukas Graham ("What Do You Think Of?") and Jon Pardi ("Getting Over Him"), and a new duet version of her song "Getting Good" featuring Trisha Yearwood. Alaina worked with songwriters Lori McKenna, David Garcia, Jordan Reynolds and more on the album, which Paul DiGiovanni produced.

Sitting Pretty on Top of the World is due out on Sept. 3 and available to pre-order and pre-save now. Full album details are below.

Alaina will also be releasing a book this fall. Getting Good at Being You is due out on Nov. 2.

Lauren Alaina Sitting Pretty on Top of the World
UMG Nashville
loading...

Lauren Alaina, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World Tracklist:

1. "It Was Me" (Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey)
2. "If the World Was a Small Town" (Lauren Alaina, David Garcia, Josh Miller)
3. "Getting Good" (feat. Trisha Yearwood) (Emily Weisband)
4. "Same Story, Different Saturday Night" (Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
5. "On Top of the World" (Lauren Alaina, Jordan Reynolds, Sasha Sloan
6. "Run Lauren Alaina, Ben Johnson, Kennedi Lykken)
7. "What Do You Think Of?" (duet with Lukas Graham) (Lauren Alaina, Jens Carlsson, Asia Whiteacre)
8. "I’m Not Sad Anymore" (Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
9. "Getting Over Him" (duet with Jon Pardi) (Lauren Alaina, Paul DiGiovanni, Emily Weisband)
10. "Good Ole Boy" (Lauren Alaina, David Garcia, Josh Miller)
11. "When the Party’s Over" (Lauren Alaina, David Garcia, Corey Crowder)
12. "You Ain’t a Cowboy" (Lauren Alaina, Casey Brown, Parker Welling)
13. "Goodbye Street" (Lauren Alaina, Jacob Durrett, Ernest K. Smith)
14. "Written in the Bar" (Lauren Alaina, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)
15. "Change My Mind" (Lauren Alaina, Cameron Bedell, Seth Ennis)

The (Still) Most-Anticipated Country + Americana Albums of 2021:

The year is more than half over, but there's still plenty of great music coming — and even more we're hoping to see announced soon.

More From Taste of Country