Jennifer Nettles, the talented performer who made a name for herself as part of the country duo Sugarland, has spent four years working on a solo project. The project, which is titled That Girl was released on January 14th and already has fans and critics talking. Rick Rubin produced the album that showcased the wide vocal talents of the seasoned musician. Nettles, who has not released an album with her Sugarland partner Kristian Bush in years, recently spoke about the creative process involved in making her solo debut album. Nettles either wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 tracks for this new album.

“I really didn’t put any boundaries on myself on how I wanted to write. I just let that happen and I didn’t know what direction it was going to go. I sat down at my piano, and I called old friends, and I made new friends, and all those things just to see from a writing perspective what would come together and what kind of collection I would make. It got to a point where I decided ‘Alright, it’s time,’” she said.

Watch me perform #ThatGirlLive TOMORROW at 8/7pm c! #RAMCountryLive @YahooMusic http://t.co/3q6jJ5GaQc pic.twitter.com/njsw4KdIqk

— Jennifer Nettles (@JenniferNettles) January 15, 2014

The talented singer hopes the album will broaden her fan base as well as showcasing her abilities. “I hope that fans hear this album and from an ego perspective for me, from an artist also perspective, I hope that they listen to it and go, ‘Wow! She’s a way better songwriter and a better singer than I would’ve ever thought!’ I feel like the work that I’ve done with Sugarland, I’m super proud of it, and yet there are things that I wanted to prove to myself and to my fans and that I still want to,” Nettles said.

Nettles tackles intense romantic themes in her first album. The song Jealousy has lines that read as follows: “I didn’t really mean to cause such an ugly scene / Showing up at your house, half-drunk and crazy / Bitch, I called you out.”

Image Via Wikimedia Commons