Miranda Lambert releases steel-soaked acoustic performance video of her divorce anthem “Alimony”

To put it in her words: “Honky Tonk like hell.”

Today, Miranda Lambert released a spirited acoustic performance video of her latest song “Alimony,” which will be included on her upcoming 10th studio album, Postcards from Texas.

The album was produced by Miranda along with Jon Randall at Austin's legendary Arlyn Recording Studios and she previously said it would be full of steel guitar and honky-tonk production, which is already proving to be true with this album.

A catchy, retro-style country song that could play in huge arenas or small honky-tonk beer joints, it's pure country in every way and it makes her worry that her marriage is about to end, but she takes comfort in the fact that she'll get a nice sum of alimony if they divorce:

“And I called this lawyer in Dallas
The one who lives in this palace
So I know he's good at winning
If you think you are missing something

And you start to get out
Only one thing can comfort me
If you leave me in San Antone
Think about maintenance”

Of course, you all know that I think that in an acoustic style like this, everything sounds better stripped down, and Miranda's twangy Texan vocals fit so perfectly with this type of production.

Of the three songs we've heard so far, this is easily my favorite release, and it really doesn't get more country than this. Check it out:

The song was written by Miranda along with Natalie Hemby and Shane McAnally. Find out more about the inspiration behind the song here:

“We were out at my barn. I was showing Shane and Natalie the horses and I asked him if he had any other titles. He said he had one and I said, 'What is that?' Because your last one was 'Looking Back on Luckenbach' and I didn't think you could top it.

He said, 'Well, if you're going to leave me in San Antone, don't forget the Alamo-neeee…' Natalie and I said, 'All right, Shane! Stop showing off.'”

Miranda says she wanted to include a shuffle in her setlist, and that’s how “Alimony” came about:

“We went back into the house and got the guitars and I was like, 'I want a shuffle, man.' I love shuffle so much and this record needed a shuffle!

I knew I wanted one in my set because I hadn't done one in a long time – and everyone loves a shuffle.”

Miranda’s parents were private investigators when she was growing up and handled numerous divorce cases in “upscale neighborhoods”:

“My parents were private investigators in Dallas, Texas, and worked a lot of divorce cases in upscale parts of town, so this wasn't hard to write. I'd heard about it my whole life.

And once we had the line — If you leave me in San Antone, don't forget the alimony — we took off! We intentionally used every Texas metaphor we could think of; we wanted to take something pretty shitty and put some humor back into it.

I mean, the guy can get off pretty easy by just moving back in with his mom.”

Touché … it’s hard to argue with that.

This brand of wry humor characterized the early stages of Miranda's career and really set her apart, coupled with her direct approach and honesty when it comes to getting to the point, and in my humble opinion, is what she does best.

I love songs that turn a normally sad subject like this on its head, and like I said, Miranda now makes me want to get a divorce? It's that good (and entertaining).

“Postcards from Texas” will be released everywhere on September 13th.

The studio cut:

“Alimony”

Tracklist of Postcards from Texas:

Armadillo (Aaron Raitiere, Jon Decious, Parker Twomey)
Damn, Randy (Miranda Lambert, Brendan McLoughlin, Jon Randall)
Review of Luckenbach (Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally, Natalie Hemby)
Santa Fe with Parker McCollum (Miranda Lambert, Jesse Frasure, Jessie Jo Dillon, Dean Dillon)
January Heart (Brent Cobb, Neil Medley)
Wranglers (Audra Mae, Evan McKeever, Ryan Carpenter)
Run (Miranda Lambert)
Maintenance (Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally)
I hate love songs (Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, Jon Randall)
No Man's Land (Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick)
Bitch on the Sauce (Miranda Lambert, Jaren Johnston)
Far too good at breaking my heart (Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Jesse Frasure, Jenee Fleenor)
Wildfire (Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, Jon Randall)
Life on the Run (David Allen Coe, Jimmy L. Howard)