Shelby Lynne’s new album, Consequences of the Crown, was released on Friday (August 16). But the record almost didn’t happen, because Lynne believed that her album making days were behind her. The country star recently moved back to Nashville and took part in a series of writing sessions with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, recording artist Ashley Monroe, and producer-engineer Gena Johnson. And her new record was born out of those encouraging initial collaborations.

“We knew we had written a bunch of great songs, and I knew that they wanted me to try to make a record, which I wasn’t really prepared for or into,” Lynne shared. “At the time, I just wanted to come back and write some songs and see if I could get some cuts and try to be involved in the songwriting community. So we just started rolling, and then Karen made some calls and wound up getting Monument Records interested and I just was like, “Oh, sh*t. I just wanted a publishing deal!” I thought that part of my whole thing [making records] might be fading into the past. I’m proud of the record because it’s so completely different. We played everything, the girls and I.” (Variety)