Blake Shelton Talks Miranda Lambert & Gwen Stefani Influence On ‘Texoma Shore’

Blake Shelton is speaking out about the influence girlfriend Gwen Stefani had on his new album, Texoma Shore. The country singer also hinted that finally moving on from his former marriage to Miranda Lambert in the wake of their 2015 divorce played at least a small part in his new music.

Shelton got pretty candid about his new release in an interview with the Tennessean, where he made it very clear that losing Miranda and finding love again with Gwen had a big influence on his new release that dropped last week and put him in a jokingly bitter album battle with fellow Voice coach Adam Levine.

After the outlet noted that Blake’s 2016 album If I’m Honest was heavily influenced by his split with his fellow country star and “carried some dark memories” of their divorce, Shelton seemingly touched on his former romance with Lambert playing a part on his latest album by admitting that he’s now looking forward with Gwen rather than looking back with Miranda.

“Looking ahead is a helluva lot more fun for me right now than it’s ever been,” Blake told the outlet, admitting that what’s making him happy right now is his new music and Gwen.

“I’m just feeling so at ease for the first time in maybe ever,” Blake then continued of finally moving on from Lambert with Stefani, who’s he’s been dating for the past two years after they first met while they were both coaches on NBC’s The Voice in 2014.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVD0eOqlRvM/?taken-by=gwenstefani

“It’s a peace of mind that I can’t explain and I feel like I owe it to [Gwen],” he then added of their two-year relationship, admitting that his relationship with Stefani had a huge influence on his new songs. “Obviously that’s going to be reflected in my music.”

Shelton previously confirmed that although he’s pretty happy and content with Stefani, his split from Lambert still played a part on at least a couple of the songs featured on Texoma Shore.

Speaking out about the album last month, Blake confessed to Entertainment Tonight that while his latest album is much more uplifting than his last, losing his wife two years ago still plays a small part in his music.

“There might be one or two songs that kind of feel like, you know, I lost my dog and my wife,” he said in October, referring to Miranda without mentioning her by name.

Blake then added that although Texoma Shore isn’t as personal as 2016’s If I’m Honest, “there’s a song or two on there that are directly personal” to him.

Charlie Cook, vice president of country formats for Cumulus, also touched on Shelton’s current and former loves making their way into his music while speaking to the Tennessean, admitting that part of Blake’s charm comes from his candidness about his relationships with both Miranda and Gwen.

“America saw that he was so likable,” Charlie said of why Blake’s been so successful in the country music world and beyond in the interview.

“He was self-effacing and at that time the country core loved the Blake-Miranda relationship,” he continued, but noted that “today the general audience is invested in the relationship with Gwen.”

Blake Shelton’s new album, Texoma Shore, is available now.

[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]