Lauren Alaina has been teasing fans with snippets of her upcoming album, Stages, in, well, stages. They’re full of little easter eggs and we’re here to unpack them.

Stage One is called ‘The Dreaming’ and encapsulates Alaina’s childhood/coming of age years. It’s fun, it’s free and it’s full of nostalgia. From cheerleader uniforms to stereo systems, Alaina’s bedroom has been brought to life again for this special stage.

The clues are subtle here and we’re desperately trying to piece them together. Like the picture of Alaina singing into a microphone hairbrush, which keen-eyed fans have assigned to her unreleased, ‘Three’. One fan commented with, “”Hairbrush for a microphone”🥹(please tell me this means threes on the set list)”.

There’s also lots of frogs. Why? We’re extremely unsure, but they do seem important.

The song teaser on Stage One is an upbeat ditty entitled, ‘The Ringer’. It feels more akin to her ‘Bama roots and definitely incorporates the banjo featured heavily in the photos.

Stage Two gets even more interesting, and that’s due to the involvement of the number 3. The theme of Stage Two is The Breaking, next to which she chose the broken heart and whiskey glass emojis.

It’s darker than Stage One, giving rise to smoky barrooms and lonely barstools. There’s a nod to her first album, Road Less Traveled, and her track with Chase Matthew, ‘All My Exes’. But it’s the rogue number three that has fans questioning what else is going on in Stage Two. Alaina replied to a fan querying it, saying, “not the last time you’ll see a three….just saying”. Could this mean her coveted track, ‘Three’, is finally making its way to an album? It does seem to be a hot topic for the LA fans, however, her Spotify tracklisting would lead us to believe the track is not on the album. It doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t surprises on tour, or even a Deluxe further down the line.

Stage Two’s sneak peek track is entitled IYAGLM, which this writer is guessing stands for, ‘If You Ain’t Gonna Love Me’ (also later confirmed by the album track list on Spotify, but we guessed it first, we swear). It feels like a fighting song, with lyrics like, “won’t be waiting on a sorry with a bottle of wine,” and “the last nail just hit the goodbye door,” to the beat of a kick drum fuelled with rage.

We’re sat waiting patiently for the rest of the stages and teasers to put it all together. But what we do know for certain already is this: one of country music’s most honest and publicly vulnerable artists is about to release a deeply personal album, and we can’t wait to celebrate it.

The album, Stages, drops August 28th. For a full expected track list, see below:

1. Babies Raising Babies (with Tyler Suddeth)
2. Those Kind of Women (released)
3. Household (released)
4. Paints The Picket
5. The Ringer
6. Rings On The Table
7. If You Ain’t Gonna Love Me
8. Walking On Broadway
9. Better Off (released)
10. Raining Whiskey (released)
11. All My Exes (with Chase Matthew) (released)
12. Daddy Shoots Straight
13. Spin
14. Never Been In Love (with Kane Brown) (released)
15. Boots On The Ground
16. Little Things (released)
17. Heaven Sent (released)