On November 4, 2013 at the ASCAP Country Awards, Jennifer Nettles announced that she would be releasing her first solo album on January 14, 2014. Now, that time has come, and her album is already looking to be a smash hit.

Sugarland fans were concerned when they found out that Nettles was working on a solo project, but Nettles put them at ease by explaining that the group had not split up. “Quite the opposite,” she said. “I can’t be in two different places at the same time and I put 100 percent of myself into something. I didn’t want to do a solo project out of dislike of the band. I love that music but there’s something else I had to prove to myself,” Nettles explained.

Nettles said that she simply felt it was time to break away, and do something more personal for her. “I think this album so far for me musically has been the most intimate and personal … musically and vocally,” Nettles said. “I think it’s way more intimate to me and way more personal in the sense that when you collaborate, that’s the nature of collaboration, you’re affecting each other, and playing with and inspiring each other, and yet there are things that one may not get to do or want to do when collaborating.”

Nettles gave birth to her son in 2012, and says that being a mother has really changed her in her personal and professional life. She explained that she was able to incorporate some of her motherly and wifely roles into That Girl.

“I’m able to show a side that I think’s more womanly,” Nettles said. “I think it’s more mature, and so that’s big for me. I think it gives you perspective all around, not just musically but also in my career. I think you get superefficient because you have to be. You don’t worry about things that were super important before because you have a baby and you just burn that underbrush out. You feel like a huntress.”

Have you listened to Nettles’ new album That Girl? Leave your comments below.

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