Heidi Newfield spent a decade belting out barroom-built honky-tonk rave-ups as the frontwoman of Trick Pony before leaving the group in late 2006. Her solo debut, What Am I Waiting For, demonstrates just how much more there is to her than odes to the liquor-soaked high life. It’s a startlingly sensitive, fully rounded album that reveals heretofore unheard dimensions in both her personality and her talent.

What Am I Waiting For isn’t a complete 180-degree turn from Trick Pony’s rowdy racket—in fact, the title cut was written with former bandmates Keith Burns and Ira Dean. But there’s a newfound openheartedness to the more intimate songs here, whether sunny (first single “Johnny & June”) or dark (“Love Her and Lose Me”). Heidi also chooses daring outside material ranging from Lori McKenna’s raw “Wreck You” to Angaleena Presley’s droll “Knocked Up.” What Am I Waiting For is the sound of a woman walking away from the bars and exploring the world outside.