Lainey Wilson Says Songwriting Helped Her Deal with 'Mean Girls' Growing Up: 'It Was Hard'

Music has always been a source of comfort for Lainey Wilson.

Ahead of the release of her new album Whirlwind, the country star, 32, opened up in a new interview about using songwriting to cope in her childhood.

“I dealt with things that all kids deal with, mean girls… And I don’t even know if I would say they bullied me. I’ve seen kids get bullied, but it was hard. I mean, when you’re 13, 14 years old…” Wilson told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “But you come home and you find this outlet that just helps you get through all the emotions.”

The “Hang Tight Honey” singer said she used her pen as a way of “dealing with stuff at home behind closed doors,” and that all these years later, she still uses music as a form of self-expression.

“Songwriting has been a thing for me, too. I’ll observe other people and I will be able to become more empathetic toward people,” she told the radio host, 51. “I’m able to take some of their pain on, which is one of my worst qualities and my best qualities. But I can write from somebody else’s perspective. And I think just songwriting, in general, has made me a better person.”

Wilson wrote her first song at 9 years old, and spent her childhood listening to country greats like Glen Campbell, Tim McGraw and Patsy Cline, she told PEOPLE last year in a digital cover story.

“I grew up in a town where country music is life: We eat, sleep and breathe it,” she said. “I have loved it with my entire heart, and I feel like country music is finally starting to love me back.”

In that same interview, she described her past year as a “whirlwind” — the same name of her upcoming fifth studio album, which is set for release on Friday, Aug. 23.

“I am so excited to finally announce Whirlwind. This album has been a long time coming and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon,” Wilson said in a statement upon announcing the record. “This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me."

Wilson, who in May won entertainer of the year at the ACM Awards, told Billboard that same month that she was focused on “quality over quantity” when it came to the new record.

“We were figuring out what was working - it was bringing people out on the road to get it done - and I stayed pretty inspired,” she said.

Ahead of the album’s release, she’s put out a slate of singles, including “Hang Tight Honey,” “4x4xU,” and “Good Horses,” featuring Miranda Lambert.

Her new song “Out of Oklahoma” was also included on the soundtrack to the movie Twisters.