The divorce record is a country trope, and Miranda Lambert doubles down with this moving two-record set. But she earns her place in the canon by turning the cliché on its head. There is no blaming the no-good man who broke her heart — Lambert’s a long way from just a few years before, when she set fire to an ex’s home in the video for “Kerosene.” This time, it’s all about examining her own flaws and scars. Like many a Hank Williams fan before her, she drinks away the pain — “It’s been a while since I’ve been off the stuff,” Lambert sings on the reggae-groove lark “Ugly Lights” — but then slinks out of town in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, the backing vocals on “Highway Vagabond” and “Vice” sound like wind howling through an open car window. There are delightfully surprising twists along the route, such as “The Joshua Tree”-style guitars on “Runnin’ Just In Case” and the garage-band fuzz of “Pink Sunglasses,” which deceptively paints Lambert as a ditz who finds enlightenment in a cheap pair of shades. Still, there’s no mistaking her country heart on the Americana beauty “Good Ol’ Days” or the ballads “Tin Man” and “Well-Rested.” The show-stopper here is “Vice” with its vinyl-record hiss, woozy guitars and a dramatically descending chord structure. “I wear a town like a leather jacket / When the new wears off I don’t even pack it,” Lambert sighs. Is she running away or moving on? Either way, it’s smart to follow her. © Qobuz