Miranda Lambert admits she’s angry less often than she was before, but she still gets that look in her eyes.

It can’t be fabricated — the people she’s closest to know exactly what it looks like. Husband Brendan McLoughlin surely does.

After hearing hits like “Gunpowder and Lead,” “White Liar” and “Kerosene,” fans can imagine, too. The internet says Lambert is 5 ft., 4 in. tall, but she holds a lot more space in the room than that.

She’s tough — and maybe a little scary — before you get to know her.

So, what scares Miranda Lambert? Ironically, it’s the thing she’s best at and what she’s known for.

Postcards From Texas is her new album, her first on a new record label after 20 years with Sony Music Nashville. Skip ahead to a self-written love song called “Run” for an example.

“Oh this freedom I found, babe, sure wasn’t free / I owe you a lifetime of apologies / I’m tellin’ the truth now / I loved you so much / I’m sorry for lyin’ about who I was / I was gonna run / I was gonna run / Ooh I always was gonna run,” she sings.

Talking to Taste of Country Nights host Evan Paul, Lambert doesn’t reveal who inspired the song, but that’s to be expected. She does share a secret about how she unlocks these vulnerable parts of her personal life, however.

Selections from our chat with Miranda Lambert are below. Find the full, unedited conversation at the Taste of Country Nights: On Demand podcast.

Taste of Country: Loving the record. It feels personal, but less autobiographical.

Miranda Lambert: Well, that’s a really good way to put it. Yeah. It’s like little snippets of each influence I’ve had. It was a record of going back to the roots of it all.

Which song peels back a layer of who you are since Palomino?

You know what, Palomino was, like, all about travel. We wrote a lot of it in 2020, so it makes sense. A lot about road trips, a lot about travel, a lot about characters you meet along the way.

And this record felt like I made it home after all that: And here’s some snippets of where I’ve been and where I’m headed.

There’s a few breakup songs on here, like “Looking Back on Luckenbach.” Have you ever avoided a song because you were worried about how media would spin it?

I haven’t avoided it. I’ve just picked my moments when I was ready to have whatever song that was out. Because I signed up to tell the truth. I got in country music, and that’s what we do. And I just feel like it’s important to — good, bad and ugly— tell your story, because it’s also somebody else’s story. You know, it makes you not feel alone.a