Miranda Lambert’s Raw ‘In His Arms’ Captures a Rural Songwriters’ Session [Listen]

Miranda Lambert's announcement of The Marfa Tapes promised that the album will be "raw" and unproduced, and the first song released from the forthcoming new project doesn't disappoint in that regard. "In His Arms," released Friday (March 5), is simple, straightforward and sweet.

Backed by collaborators Jack Ingram and Jon Randall — the two songwriters and musicians earn equal billing to Lambert on The Marfa Tapes — Lambert sings a song of longing: She's been all over and experienced plenty, but now, she sings, "I wish I was in his arms tonight." The man in question could be one of many she mentions — she never specifies — but she wonders if he's "out there lookin' for me" and hoping for the same.

"In His Arms" is short: At just under two minutes and 30 seconds, it begins and ends quietly, with ambient noise that continues throughout the track. It doesn't feel incomplete, though.

The Marfa Tapes, due out on May 7, collects 15 songs — Lambert's previously released "Tin Man" and "Tequila Does," plus 13 others — that, the country star explained on Wednesday (March 3), are a byproduct of her escapes to Marfa, Texas, to "recharge" with Ingram and Randall.

"You can hear the wind blowing, the cows mooing ...," she says. "We wanted you to feel like you were right there with us, sitting around the campfire, escaping the world, disappearing into the music."

Lambert certainly hasn't been idle during the COVID-19 pandemic: She recently released a new collaboration titled "Drunk (and I Don't Wanna Go Home)" with Elle King, and on Wednesday, it was announced that she has partnered with TC Restaurant Group to become the first female artist in country music to open a branded bar on Broadway in downtown Nashville. Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa will be located at 308 Broadway in downtown Music City, with more details to come.