Whirlwind, the forthcoming album from Lainey Wilson, is surely the most anticipated country blockbuster of the year. Now, with the album less than two months away, the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year is front-loading the release with a slew of teases. One day after releasing the video to “Hang Tight Honey,” her current Top 20 single at country radio, Wilson has released the song “4x4xu” as an Independence Day bonus, with an accompanying video to boot.
The soulful mid-tempo ballad tells the tale of a fast-blooming highway romance that takes place in the cab of a pickup truck: “Your hands 10 and two on this heart of mine,” she sings.
“This song is about finding that someone that gives you the comfort and peace of home anywhere in the world as long as you’re by their side,” said Wilson, who goes on to say that she believes the co-write among Wilson, Jon Decious, and Aaron Raitiere “could be my biggest song yet.”
“4x4xu” marks the third preview from Whirlwind, which will be released on Aug. 23. Expectations are sky high for Wilson’s third record after her previous effort, 2022’s Bell Bottom Country, took home Country Album of the Year at the Grammys earlier this year. Her forthcoming album arrives at a moment during a year of increased visibility and attention for country, with everyone from Post Malone to Beyoncé to Lana Del Rey venturing into the genre.
“When I moved to Nashville in 2011, in my camper trailer, I was too country for country,” Wilson toldRolling Stone last year. “So it’s crazy to wrap my head around the fact that people who don’t even listen to country are listening to me.” That’s the very subject of the first preview she offered earlier this year: “Country’s Cool Again.”
