Miranda Lambert's "Vice" Is a Step in a New Direction

Miranda Lambert released her highly anticipated first single “Vice” on July 17 from her upcoming, yet-to-be titled album. After a couple days of listening to the new song, InChargeCountry agrees that it definitely lives up to the hype. With the rumor mill swirling about the possibility of Lambert releasing a hard jab at Blake Shelton and their infamous break-up and divorce, “Vice” served as an unexpected yet widely applauded surprise to fans.

Lambert is known for her hard-hitting singles filled with intense emotion, ranging from her explosive “Gunpowder and Lead” anthem to the deeply nostalgic and longing of “The House That Built Me.” Yet, “Vice” is completely opposite of her typical style, and the style that many big-name country artists are leaning to. Vice feels intentionally empty of emotion – fitting for the subject matter of needing vice after vice to turn to when life continues to throw struggles at her. In fact, the first half of the first verse is only isolated vocals with no instrumentation, relying on Lambert’s aching voice to pull the listener in to her world of regret – and it works. The rest of the song pulls with a thick yet simple beat thumping along as if you can feel her footsteps as she walks home at 7:00 a.m. with her heels in her hands and her thoughts swirling around in her head.

By the time she hits the chorus, her voice rolls from line to line radiating with annoyance and frustration in herself. What’s impressive is that her voice paints the scene and emotion far more than the well-written lyrics. Her world could be crumbling around her, but she isn’t about to act upon it any time soon. Seeing Miranda Lambert seemingly lost with emotion is almost alien and frightening to imagine, which further cements the radical change in music that she seems to be setting up with her album. Whatever Lambert might be going through seems to be a large struggle for her, but pays off with another career defining single. We can’t wait to hear where she takes her next album!

Check out “Vice” on Spotify, iTunes, and Apple Music!