Miranda Lambert has won almost every country-music award in existence, but she has a better measure of success than trophies: drag queens. “If someone dresses like you and covers you in a drag show, to me, you made it,” Lambert says, settling into a couch in the Rolling Stone offices in denim, a brown suede jacket, and a Texas-shaped turquoise ring big enough to double as a weapon.
The singer’s new album, Crisco, arrives with a disco pulse and a drag-brunch origin story. This past summer, she teased the record with a Crisco Disco Drag Brunch in Nashville. “I don’t know if there’s a more joyful place on Earth than a drag brunch,” she says. “It’s just, like, mimosas and people being their full selves and no-holds-barred. It felt like it would set the tone for this record.”
The Ring and the Ringtone
The way Lambert dresses says something about her roots. Her turquoise ring stands out as a bold choice, while her denim and suede jacket keeps things down to earth. She is dressed for Texas, yet the music she plays looks back to the Seventies.
That tone gave the album its name. Crisco mixes country with disco, backed by lush strings and rhinestone cowboys. The sound takes after “Islands in the Stream”-era Dolly Parton, a time when country music grew lush and layered. Jesse Frasure, who shares production credit with Lambert, began with a single track, the groovy, glistening “A Song to Sing” featuring Chris Stapleton. That track proved so promising that they kept writing.
The Seventies is a part of the genre she had not really explored before. “The Seventies is such an inspiring time in music in general, and especially in country music,” Lambert says. “Great songs were great songs, and it didn’t have to live in a box.”
A Year Without an Album
Lambert has been busy. She is a producer, a label owner, and a fashion entrepreneur. Most recently, she helped Ella Langley craft her breakthrough album, Dandelion. As co-writer of Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” she is partly responsible for the most successful song in Billboard Hot 100 history.
Seven trophies at the Nov. 18 CMA Awards put her among the most recognized nominees despite having no album to promote this year. The upcoming record Crisco will not be factored into next year’s awards.
Disco Balls, Not Balls
Some country listeners might find the disco touch surprising, and Lambert acknowledges that reaction. She enjoyed playing with Seventies sounds on “A Song to Sing.”. Now the new album carries that experiment straight through.
The pop sheen is present throughout. “To Everything” builds to a crescendo, and the Langley duet “Snakeskin Boots” opens the album with Lambert’s familiar fire. There are also straight-up country ballads, like the Patsy Cline-inspired “Two Things Can Be True.” That track shows off her vocal range.
She is as saucy as ever. On “Whiskey Business,” she sings about “gonna go all night and sleep all afternoon.” She is not promising literal disco testicles onstage like Kacey Musgraves has done. “I’ll have some disco balls, but they won’t be balls, if that makes sense,” Lambert quips.
Musgraves and the Hatchet
Lambert appeared on Musgraves’ track “Horses and Divorces,” marking a burying-of-the-hatchet moment between two stars who were rumored to have beef for years. She has made clear that she would rather lift up other women in a genre where female artists rarely get more than 10 percent of country-radio airplay and are perpetually forced to fight for one or two top spots.
“We need to do this together,” she says. “We don’t have to be best friends all the time. We don’t have to be a sisterhood all the time, but I think it’s really important to lean on each other when we need to, and to support each other, because we know what it takes to do this. And it ain’t easy.”
Mentorship Over Fame
Lambert did not have many female role models guiding her when her first album came out in 2005. That experience fuels much of what she does today, serving as a mentor, sounding board, creative partner, and cheerleader for newer artists like Langley.
“Working with Miranda was special because she’s someone I’ve looked up to long before I ever imagined getting to make a record with her,” Langley tells Rolling Stone. “And beyond that, she’s so generous and honest, and she brings that into the way she works. She gave me the confidence to trust my instincts.”
The collaboration paid off in spades with “Choosin’ Texas.” The song has commanded the charts and the discourse this year. Critics and fans have tried to figure out why and how it broke through the noise so resoundingly. What those conversations sometimes missed is that Lambert’s legacy made “Choosin’ Texas” possible.
Her hits like “The House That Built Me,” “White Liar,” and “Mama’s Broken Heart” introduced a certain kind of Texas twang to radio. Her 2021 album The Marfa Tapes, recorded in her home state, kept the focus on sturdy songwriting. “I hope that some of the trails that I was able to blaze are the reason that some of this is happening,” Lambert says. “Because it was hard work, and I never took the easiest path. I took the authentic path, and it feels like those doors that were open have stayed open and people are blazing through them.”
Authenticity Over Convention
Exactly who Lambert is now comes through clearly in Crisco. Songcraft remains her priority, yet she sounds more joyful than before, and she is willing to loosen up on the dance floor. Lambert thrives being several people at once, though convention finds it unsettling.
She might be shooting pistols from horseback one day, then shimmying at the gay bar the next. She can record acoustic albums in the Texas desert, or she can add a string section and go somewhere else entirely.
The Ballad and the Dancehall
The ballads stick to classic Lambert form. “Two Things Can Be True” is a Patsy Cline-inspired track that puts her vocal range on display without any frills. The disco tracks are looser, but they carry real weight.
She has reached the peak of her career, and rather than play it safe, she has chosen to celebrate it. The album is a record of that moment, a statement of satisfaction with where she is right now. It is a bold choice, and she does not attempt to conceal it.
The Legacy and the Future
Lambert’s legacy is part of what made “Choosin’ Texas” possible. Her earlier work created a lane for Langley to walk into. Now Lambert is doing the same for others. She is taking what she learned and passing it along.
Where she stands now is what the record captures: happiness, ease, and assurance all rolled into one.
The Numbers Behind the Record
- Album: Crisco
- Co-producer: Jesse Frasure
- Collaborators: Chris Stapleton, Ella Langley
- CMA Awards: Seven nominations, Nov. 18
- Billboard Hot 100: “Choosin’ Texas” is the most successful song in Billboard Hot 100 history
Lambert has already claimed every prize worth claiming, and this record shows her choosing to enjoy herself instead of chasing more accolades. The album stands as proof that winning doesn’t always mean playing by the same rules as everybody else.
Source material: “Miranda Lambert Is Ready to Party,” Rolling Stone.
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