In May 2013, Alaina released the country pop-leaning "Barefoot and Buckwild", which she co-wrote, as the purported lead single for her second album.[3] Following the song stalling at a moderate 56 on the Country Airplay chart,[4] promotion for the project seemingly ceased. After undergoing vocal surgery in August 2014, Alaina told the country music blog The Boot that she was beginning work on a new album with a "more mature" feel.[5]
Alaina was selected by ESPN to write and record a promotional single for its college football campaign. Her contribution, "History", was released on August 31, 2015, and was the first promotional single from the album.[6] She announced Lauren Alaina in September 2015 as a prelude to her then-forthcoming album, due out in 2016, with five songs from the album.[1][7]
