Music Minute - Lauren Watkins: If I'm Being Honest

Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters songbird Lauren Watkins announces her forthcoming album If I'm Being Honest, due Sept. 25. Watkins marks the announcement with the release of another look at what's to come, new song “Better Love Next Time,” out now.     PRE-SAVE/PRE-ADD: IF I'M BEING HONEST   Produced by Will Bundy with co-production on select tracks from Joey Moi, If I'm Being Honest finds Watkins stripping things back without losing any of her edge. Across 12 unguarded songs, the Nashville native brings her earthy vocal and graceful nonchalance to the hard truths most people won't say using her signature lyrical imagery to make ordinary life feel lived-in.   Watkins looks on the bright side of breaking up in “Better Love Next Time,” complete with a classic Nashville turn of phrase. Written by Watkins with Bundy, Lauren Hungate and Mark Trussell, the track finds her dusting herself off with a little humor, a little grit and enough belief to keep moving toward whatever is around the bend.   LISTEN: “BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME”   “I've always thought that if you look past the heartbreak, there's something so hopeful about a goodbye,” shares Watkins. “It almost always means there's something better out there that you just can't see yet. That's what I wanted 'Better Love Next Time' to feel like. There's a time and a place to be sad and cry about it, but this is the moment to get back in the saddle and do all the fun, healthy things that come with moving on. It genuinely makes me smile every time I sing it, and I hope it does that for people too. I needed this when I was going through breakups, so I just wrote one myself!”   “Better Love Next Time” continues a summer of new music from Watkins, following May's “Heartbreakaholic" and June's “Convenient.” The three tracks begin to sketch the world of If I'm Being Honest, a project that finds Watkins sharpening the honest, detail-rich writing that has long set her apart.   The newly announced record follows Watkins' 2024 debut, The Heartbroken Record, a 17-track introduction to her lyrical truth-telling and old-school instincts, and 2025's In A Perfect World, a 10-song collection that found the Nashville native evolving as the idea of home came into focus. Where her debut leaned into heartbreak with a rebel edge, In A Perfect World captured a season of growth and self-discovery. On If I'm Being Honest, Watkins will carry both sides forward, pairing the bite of her earliest writing with a more plainspoken look at where life has taken her since.   Tickets are on sale now for Watkins' first-ever hometown headline show at Nashville's Exit/In on Thursday, Oct. 8. The newly announced show follows recent dates with Dylan Scott and upcoming dates with Luke Bryan as Watkins continues bringing her old-school country grit and “direct-yet-poetic songwriting” (Billboard) to stages across the country.    Last year, Watkins made her debut on some of music's biggest stages, including the Grand Ole Opry, NBC's TODAY and Madison Square Garden, as well as touring with Zach Top, Riley Green and Lainey Wilson. Following a breakout year of firsts, Watkins enters the second half of 2026 with If I'm Being Honest on the way and a few things still left to get off her chest. For tour dates and more information, keep up with Watkins at laurenwatkins.com and on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

ABOUT LAUREN WATKINS: With an earthy, all-natural magnetism and razor sharp poetic instincts, Big Loud Records/Songs & Daughters country artist Lauren Watkins will never be accused of hiding her true feelings. Schooled on mavericks like Sheryl Crow, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, then nurtured by songwriting legend Nicolle Galyon, she's grown from Nashville roots into a stadium performer with nearly 100 million global streams, wielding vintage, sun-dappled vocals and serene, sepia-toned bravado. Co-writing every track on her 2024 debut The Heartbroken Record, “Anybody But You” helped set the romantic rebel without a cause apart, before 2025's In a Perfect World found Watkins evolving. Working with husband and award-winning songwriter/producer Will Bundy (Ella Langley, Riley Green), she's now made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry, NBC's TODAY and Madison Square Garden, while hitting the road with Morgan Wallen, Zach Top, Riley Green, and Lainey Wilson. On her third album, If I'm Being Honest, Watkins' truth-telling ways collide with a soft-spoken-yet-confident blast of organic country. Chasing the bright lights of the stage while dreaming of a front porch sunset, 12 unguarded tracks came from her finely-tuned pen (including one captivating solo confession) as she took an almost-scientific interest in speaking plainly. Produced by Bundy (with co-production by Joey Moi on select tracks), Watkins brings a graceful nonchalance to the hard truths most people won't say.