''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin is the third studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. She performed at an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

. It was released on February 19, 2021, by

BBR Music Group BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. C ...

. Produced by

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine. He also fronted the band Bedlam, featured on the soundtrack to ...

, the album was Wilson's first album to be released on a

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

and contained 12 tracks. The album was the third studio collection released in Wilson's music career and the first issued on a major record label. The disc has since spawned two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: "Dirty Looks" (2019) and " Things a Man Oughta Know" (2020). The latter release became Wilson's breakout single, reaching chart positions on the country music surveys in North America. ''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' has since been met with favorable reviews from critics and writers.

Background

Lainey Wilson had been attempting a career as a country music artist for several years. She had previously released the studio album ''

Tougher ''Tougher'' is the second studio album by American country singer Lainey Wilson. It was released on April 8, 2016, via Lone Chief Records and contained 10 tracks. It was the second record released in Wilson's career and her first to gain traction ...

'' and played a variety of shows while networking along the way. After signing a publishing deal, she would sign her first major record label contract with the

. In 2019, BBR issued the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) ''

Redneck Hollywood ''Redneck Hollywood'' is an extended play (EP) by American country singer Lainey Wilson. It was released on September 13, 2019, via the BBR Music Group and contained four tracks. Two songs from the collection were spawned as singles: "Dirty Look ...

''. Several of the songs that would appear on ''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' first appeared on ''Redneck Hollywood''. In crafting the album, Wilson would continually ask herself if the music was "saying what I'm thinking". The phrase was used often enough that she decided to name the album ''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin.

Recording and content

''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' was recorded at the Neon Cross Studio, which was located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The project was produced by

, along with assistance from Court Blankenship. In regards to production, Wilson explained that she and Joyce were "kindred spirits". A total of 12 songs comprised the collection and were all co-written by Wilson. In addition, Jason Nix and Brent Anderson are featured writers on multiple songs in the track listing. Several of the songs on the project were composed as far back as 2018 when Wilson first landed a publishing deal with

Sony ATV Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...

. "That’s when I started figuring out who I was more—what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it," she reflected. In developing the album's sound, Wilson wanted it to sound "fresh" and "familiar". In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Wilson explained that she wanted the disc to have the "pureness of

Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack (; born August 19, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. She has charted 23 times on the American ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts; her highest peaking single there is her crossover signature song, " I Hope You Dance" ...

" and the "sassiness of Dolly Parton". Four of the disc's tracks were originally released on ''Redneck Hollywood'': "WWDD", "Dirty Looks", "LA" and "Things a Man Oughta Know". The remaining eight songs were previously not released. The opening track "Neon Diamonds" was chosen as the lead song because it had similarities to a concert opener, according to Wilson. The song "LA" was derived from Wilson explaining to people that she was

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

(LA) and not

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. "I’d meet people and they’d say, 'Where in the world are you from?' as soon as I’d open my mouth. And I’d say 'LA.' And they’d say, 'There’s no way you’re from Los Angeles.'," she commented. The song "Pipe" was described by Wilson as being her "redneck rulebook". The eighth track "Keeping Bars in Business" was composed after Wilson and her co-writers all experienced different personal tragedies: "We were talking about how even though we were going through things in life, they don’t stop the world from turning," she stated. The tenth track "WWDD" (what would Dolly do) was a written as tribute to

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

, whom Wilson has been influence by: "Dolly is an international icon and role model for a lot of folks around the world, so it’s an easy song for a lot of people to relate to." The eleventh track "Rolling Stone" was based on the breakup of Wilson and her high school boyfriend. After seven years of dating, the couple realized they were no longer compatible.

Critical reception

''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' was met with favorable reviews from critics. Mark Deming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented that the album "boasted more polished production but didn't dilute her style." Jon Freeman of ''

'' commented, "It sounded like little else this year, and seemed particularly reflective of her singular, unabashedly Southern personality." Jeremy Chua compared Wilson's style on the album to that of

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

and

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, actress and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to ...

. Chua further added that "''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' is a strong, cohesive introduction to who Lainey Wilson is. A force to be reckoned with, the Louisianan’s stellar album seals her position as a mainstay in country music." ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

s Billy Dukes also gave the album a positive response. He praised Wilson's songwriting and her "raspy" voice. He also found the album to be genuine in both its production and vocal delivery: "'Authentic' is a one-word review of ''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'', an album that's intentionally frayed at the edges. Beyond writing and recording songs that satisfy country music fans, she succeeds at introducing her whole self through the music." Pip Ellwood-Hughes of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based ''Entertainment Focus'' praised her songwriting and the honesty in her lyrics. Ellwood-Hughes concluded by saying, "Lainey Wilson has everything a breakout Country star needs and then some, and with any justice this will go down as one of the best records of 2021." Veteran critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

was more reserved in his praise, highlighting the songs "Dirty Looks" and "Sunday Best" while saying in reference to the album title: "Also what she's drinkin', often with a sexual edge to it, which says plenty for her skill set and not enough for her emotional equilibrium".

Release, chart performance and singles

''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'' was originally released on February 19, 2021 on the BBR Music Group label. It was originally available to digital and streaming sites. It was later released as both a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

and as a

vinyl LP The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

. It was the third studio album released in Wilson's music career and her first to be released on a major label. The album was Wilson's second to reach the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart. Spending eight weeks on the list, the record peaked at number 40 in October 2021. Two songs had previously been issued as a

prior to the album's release. The first single was "Dirty Looks", originally issued on October 3, 2019. The second was "Things a Man Oughta Know", which was released on August 24, 2020. The song became her breakout hit in the country field, reaching the top spot of the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart and the top five of the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart.

Track listing

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''Sayin' What I'm Thinkin. *

– lead vocals, background vocals, gang vocals, handclaps * Brent Anderson – background vocals *

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac (born December 20, 1968) is an American session guitarist and producer. He is also a popular YouTube personality with over 100,000 subscribers. He is a five-time winner of Music Row's Top Ten Album All-Stars award in the guitar categ ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, handclaps *

Fred Eltringham The Wallflowers are an American rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. It has undergone ...

–

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, drums, bongo, percussion,

shaker Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

, tambourine,

vibraslap The vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire (bent into a U-shape) connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood with metal "teeth" inside. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes the ba ...

, gang vocals, handclaps *Aslan Freeman – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gang vocals, handclaps *Jason Hall – gang vocals, handclaps *

Jedd Hughes Jedd Hughes (born in Quorn, Australia) is an Australian singer, songwriter, session musician, and record producer. Early life Hughes grew up in Quorn, where he grew up listening to his father's country records. He won a local country music co ...

–

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

*Joel King – bass guitar, gang vocals, handclaps *

Joanna Janét Joanna Janét (born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American country music singer. Janét was signed to DreamWorks Nashville and recorded an album for the label, ''Destination Love'', that was scheduled to be released in August 2002. The first s ...

– background vocals *

– acoustic guitar,

B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

, drum machine, electric guitar,

Farfisa organ Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a s ...

, Fender Rhodes, keyboards,

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacture ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, programming, gang vocals, handclaps *Billy Justineau – B-3 organ, CP-70, piano *Jimmy Mansfield – gang vocals, handclaps *Rob McNelley –

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

, electric guitar, gang vocals *

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor likely best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or record ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

*Matt Rogers – background vocals *

Jonathan Singleton Jonathan David Singleton is an American country music singer and songwriter who resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been nominated for 2 Grammy Awards, and has won the ACM Song of The Year Award in 2022 for “Things a Man Oughtta Know” by ...

– harmony vocals, background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Lainey Wilson 2021 albums Albums produced by Jay Joyce BBR Music Group albums Lainey Wilson albums