The Weight of These Wings

Background and music

In an August 2016 interview with Billboard, Lambert stated she had been working on the album for a year, which included writing and recording. She admitted she was nervous about her new music since she had mostly stayed quiet while writing it. Songwriter Luke Dick was one of the musicians who worked on the album. He co-wrote "Highway Vagabond" with Natalie Hemby and Shane McAnally. He found the line "I want to go somewhere nobody knows; and I want to know somewhere that nobody goes" while waiting at a deli and not willing to mix with other people. This became a road song with the word "vagabond" at the center, with a production sounding like country Siouxsie and the Banshees.

The album's content is about her breakup with Blake Shelton and her current relationship with Anderson East.

Release and promotion

The album was released on November 18, 2016, through RCA Records Nashville.

Singles

"Vice" was released as the album's lead single on July 18, 2016. In its first week it sold 64,000 copies and debuted (and peaked) at number 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It ultimately reached a peak of number 11 on the Country Airplay chart. As of March 2017, the song has sold 508,000 copies in the United States.

"We Should Be Friends" was released as the second single on December 12, 2016.

Critical reception

The Weight of These Wings received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 81 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 11 reviews.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars and states: "It may have mainstream songs, but The Weight of These Wings isn't produced like a country-pop album, so it demands attention and rewards close listening."

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.

Commercial performance

The Weight of These Wings debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and No. 3 on the all-genre US Billboard 200 chart, moving 133,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release. It sold 122,000 copies, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's streaming activity and track sales. It is Lambert's fifth straight album to debut in the top ten of the Billboard 200, following Platinum (No. 1, 2014), Four the Record (No. 3, 2011), Revolution (No. 8, 2009) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (No. 6, 2007). In its second week of release, the album moved 36,000 units and was in the No. 9 position on the Billboard 200 chart. As of March 2017 the album has sold 287,700 copies in the United States.

Release history

Source: Amazon.com