Margo Price has shared a new song called “Lydia,” one of those long numbers all the best outlaw country artists write about their harrowing travels on the road.

As expected for Price, “Lydia” has a distinctly feminine perspective. She sings about methadone clinics and gentrification, but the song is mostly about a woman who becomes pregnant but cannot raise the baby. It was written before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but in today’s climate, it becomes all the more prescient — and chilling.

Listen to it below via a live performance video, in which Price is backed by a string quartet of
Chauntee Ross, Nicole Neely, Kristin Weber, and leader Larissa Maestro. It was shot at Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church and filmed by Geadelmann and Kelly Magelky.

“I wrote ‘Lydia’ in one sitting in a tiny hotel room after walking around the city of Vancouver one day,” Price said in a statement. “I was jet lagged and feeling really depressed, hopeless, but instead of taking a nap, I picked up the guitar and the words just flowed out all in one quick moment. I hit record on my phone to make a demo and sort of blacked out or went into this meditative state, and boom — eight minutes later, I had this song. It’s one of the only songs I’ve ever written that doesn’t have any real melody or even rhyme, but somehow it still works. Songs like that are rare and don’t come often.”

Price added, “It was inspired by a cacophony of things. There was a women’s health clinic and a methadone clinic with a needle exchange right outside of our venue. I was looking into the eyes of the people I passed and thinking about their stories and really being a conduit for pain. The song feels like a premonition now, with women’s rights being stripped and all the abortion bans happening. When I listen back, I hear what might go through a woman’s mind when she has a difficult decision to make about her body, her choices and her future.”

“Lydia” appears on Price’s upcoming album Strays, due out January 13th. So far, she’s previewed the record with the singles “Been to the Mountain” and “Change of Heart.” The artist is in the midst of a book tour for her memoir Maybe We’ll Make It, and a ton of live shows will follow. Grab tickets to all of Price’s upcoming tour dates via Ticketmaster.