Fans have waited 14 years for a new album from the Dixie Chicks and now it appears they’re going to have to wait even longer.
The trio has postponed the release of Gaslighter indefinitely. A representative for the group confirmed the news to Variety, saying “their highly anticipated fifth studio album, Gaslighter, originally scheduled to drop on May 1, 2020, via Columbia Records, has been postponed. Additional details are forthcoming. Fans should continue to check @DixieChicks social media for additional updates and announcements.”
— The Chicks (@thechicks) April 22, 2020
The Dixie Chicks announced the new album in early March, along with the release of the title track.
Clearly inspired by lead singer Natalie Maines’ divorce, the song appears to blatantly call out her ex, Adrian Pasdar. Maines and Pasdar, an actor and voice artist, previously resided in Los Angeles. The couple wed in the summer of 2000 and were married for 17 years before Maines filed for divorce over the 4th of July weekend in 2017. According to reports, their divorce was officially finalized in December of 2019.
The opening verse is obviously directed at him.
“We moved to California and followed your dreams/ I believed the promises you made to me/ Swore that night ’till death do us part/ But you lie-lie-lie-lie-lied,” Maines sings. “Hollywood welcomed you with open doors/ No matter what they gave you, you still wanted more/ Acting all above it when our friends divorced/ What a lie-lie-lie-lie-lie.”
The chorus goes on to call him out for the mistakes he made, with Maines acknowledging, “you broke me.”
“Gaslighter, denier/ Doin’ anything to get your ass farther/ Gaslighter, big timer/ Repeating all of the mistakes of your father/ Gaslighter, you broke me/ You’re sorry, but where’s my apology/ Gaslighter, you liar,” they sing with their signature three-part harmonies.
The Dixie Chicks made the media rounds in support of the single release, even appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new Dixie Chicks album will serve as the follow-up to 2006’s Taking the Long Way.