Miranda Lambert Reflects on Marriage and New Music: ‘My Fire Is Back’
Miranda Lambert's new song, "Locomotive," is reminiscent of some of her most energetic early material, and in a new interview, the 35-year-old country superstar says she feels re-energized in both her life and her music since her recent marriage to Brendan McLoughlin.
Lambert hit the stage at the 2019 CMA Music Festival in Nashville on Saturday (June 8) to debut a new song titled "Locomotive," which is a rock-influenced country-punk track. Though its musical structure and aggressive tempo are more along the lines of early hits including "Kerosene," the lyrics portray a different perspective on love than some of her more vengeful early work.
"'Cause I'm sweet tea sippin' on my front porch sittin' / While my hubby fries chicken and I'm picking these strings / I've been down on my luck but I ain't given up / Well I totaled his truck but he loves me just the same / Oh he gives me wings, oh he gives me wings," she sings in the chorus of "Locomotive."
After a few years of tough times romantically, Lambert shocked fans and the industry when she revealed she had married McLoughlin, a New York City police officer, in January. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight prior to her CMA Fest performance, she said taking some time for herself between 2016's The Weight of These Wings album — which focused on introspective songs about her divorce from Blake Shelton — and trying to make a new album has helped rejuvenate her.
See Inside Miranda Lambert's Amazing Rural Estate
"I took a good break and I got to live life and just be a person for a while," she observes. "Just being off the road, I took my time writing and enjoyed it instead of rushing like we always do."
Lambert admits that for a period in her career, she got "tired."
"I've been doing this since I was 17," she explains. "So, sometimes you get tired, but then I'm like, now I have more energy than ever. My fire is back and I still feel like the girl that was at 'The House That Built Me' era."
Lambert says her new marriage has made her "really happy," adding that she feels that happiness is "contagious."
"You go through life's journey, up and down, and you don't know what to expect and you have fails and victories," she reflects. "But I love love and I'm always in search for it. I've found the person who loves it as much as I do. And it just works."
See Miranda Lambert + Brendan McLoughlin on the ACM Red Carpet