Natalie Maines Teases Dixie Chicks Fans With ‘Gaslighter’ Preview [WATCH]
In late 2019, Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines revealed a number of details about the country trio's long-awaited next album, Gaslighter. Although a release date for the record has not yet been announced, it's likely getting closer: Maines and bandmates Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire are teasing a music video for the project's title track -- and a bit of the song itself in the process.
On Sunday (Feb. 16), both Maines personally and the Dixie Chicks as a band shared two photos from, based on the hashtags used, a "Gaslighter" music video shoot. In both, the three women are dressed up for filming and sipping wine through striped straws. Both on Maines' account and the Chicks' account, the photos are all hashtagged #gaslighter and #dcx2020.
It's on her personal account, however, that Maines shared the juiciest bit of information: a video of a camera screen, taken as the "Gaslighter" music video was being filmed. In the clip, a contortionist moves along to the brand-new Dixie Chicks song, which viewers can hear, along with cheers for the dancer, in the background of the video.
"Gaslighter, you liar / You had to start a fire, had to start a fire / Couldn't take yourself on a road a little higher / Had to burn it up, had to tear it down / Tried to say I'm crazy / Babe, you know I'm not crazy / But you gaslighted / You're a la-la-la-liar ...," Maines sings as her bandmates harmonize with her. "You made your bed and then your bed caught fire / Gaslighter, I'm the mirror / Standin' right here until you can see how you broke me / Yeah, I'm broken / You're still sorry, and there's still no apology ..."
Maines has since removed the clip, but plenty of fans reposted it before she took it down.
According to Maines, the Dixie Chicks had intended for their next album to be something simple, such as a covers album, simply to fulfill their deal with Sony. However, her divorce from her husband, actor Adrian Pasdar, inspired her to start songwriting again.
"When I started getting a divorce, I had a lot to say, so that kind of sparked me being ready [to make new music]," says Maines. "Songwriting is really hard for me, and I think, for many years, I didn't want to analyze my life or my relationship. I was just in it and dedicated and devoted ... I just was not ready to open up like that.
"Our last album was the most personal and autobiographical we'd ever been," she adds, "and then this one is, like, 10 times that."
Gaslighter will be the Dixie Chicks' first new album since Taking the Long Way in 2006. Their career largely came to a halt after Maines spoke out against then-U.S. president George W. Bush and the country's impending invasion of Iraq during a show in London, England, in 2003. The Chicks also haven't been on the road since 2017; the year before, the group embarked on their DCX MMXVI World Tour, their first trek to include North American dates in a decade.
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