The wittingly brazen Lainey Wilson returns with characteristic irreverence to announce her full-length debut album, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’. The new single, “Neon Diamonds,” introduces the Louisianan in true form—a quippy entrance to her highly anticipated record. With equal parts funk and flare, Wilson uniquely identifies her work as “Bell Bottom Country.” With Grammy- award winning producer Jay Joyce’s masterful approach, this sonic space exists on its own axis within the country music realm.
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“Neon Diamonds” exhibits Wilson’s unabashed storytelling style that has rallied a loyal flock of fans around the breakthrough artist. Purposely placed atop the track listing, Wilson feels this song “sets the tone for the whole record.”
“It encapsulates everything,” she explains. “It’s fun and free-spirited but still stays true to the theme of self-assurance on Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’.” If there is a song on the album that is for the girls, this is it.”
“Neon Diamonds” speaks her truth. The 28-year-old sets her priorities straight for all to hear. Wilson has mountains to climb, and there isn’t a man she’s met on Broadway yet that is worth the weight in baggage.
She’s certainly looking around, but for nothing serious. She clarifies this in the first verse, singing, “You ain’t Johnny / And I ain’t June / But you can be my man in black tonight baby if you want to.”
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ contains boundless bops—but make it backroads. Wilson religiously employs double entendre, softening the sometimes hard edges of her widely-relatable growing pains. She offers humor to humbly convey what’s on her heart with the hopes that her message may resonate beyond catchy pop-circles and drum loops. But Wilson’s astute approach could hardly distract from her astounding vocals that have put her name in lights—and hopefully on a marquee again later this year.
“Neon Diamonds,” penned with McV and Matt Rogers, marks the ninth of 12 tracks she’s shared ahead of the album announcement. The record chronicles her artistic journey that began in a camper she hauled to Nashville from Baskin, Louisiana, almost a decade ago. Building on her 2019 EP, Redneck Hollywood—which includes hit singles “Things A Man Outta Know” and “LA”—the album hosts 2020 tracks such as her Dolly Parton tribute, “WWDD,” the buoyant anthem, “Sunday Best,” and her raw heart-wrencher, “Rolling Stone.”
“I am proud of every piece of this record and all the people that have helped bring it to fruition,” says Wilson. “Finally being able to share this body of work is the most fulfilling and rewarding moment of my life thus far.”
Check out Lainey Wilson’s “Neon Diamonds” below and pre-save Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin,’ due out February 19.
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