The good thing about rock bottom/Is up’s the only way/I’m about to open up a can of healing this heartbreak: Lainey Wilson - Video - Whirlwind
OVER THE PAST decade, Lainey Wilson has established herself as a Nashville force. The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and recently-inducted Grand Ole Opry member has written songs for the likes of Luke Combs and Flatland Cavalry; she’s appeared on the modern Western Yellowstone after having songs of hers featured on the hit series; and she’s steadily released catchy, punchy albums that mash up Southern rock, soul, and classic Nashville ideals into a genre that she’s dubbed “bell-bottom country.”
Since releasing her first full-length album in 2014, Wilson has refined and built on that concept, polishing and expanding the boundaries of her sound while keeping the honest storytelling and all-in singing that powers her best work intact. With her third major-label album, Whirlwind, the Louisiana native flexes her songwriting and vocal muscles, distilling them through a megawatt charm that brings the listener directly into the heart of whatever she might be singing about.
She’s not afraid to take big swings, even if they’re silly; anyone who’s confident enough to declare “Doggone daggummit, didn’t see that comin’/Country’s cool again,” which Wilson does in euphoric fashion on the galloping nod to country’s recent pop resurgence, “Country’s Cool Again,” clearly is happy with putting their whole self into whatever they are singing.