Lola Kirke 'Couldn't Imagine a Better Person' to Make a Song About 'Being Chaotic' with Than Elle King (Exclusive)

Lola Kirke loves to surround herself with all things vintage. Since moving to her Nashville home in 2020, she has lived amongst a collection of knotty pine, bright colors, and retro wallpaper. 

And she has no intention of changing a thing. 

"I feel like my mom also had that ethos of honoring the world by honoring what's already there by building upon it rather than changing it," Kirke, 33, tells PEOPLE in a recent interview. "I feel like I have that attitude towards other areas of creativity, but particularly music. It's just about collaborating with our surroundings rather than try and change them into something that they don't want to be."

A London-born, New York-raised, half-Jewish girl who has forever been obsessed with country music since the moment her Irish baby nurse sang Patsy Cline songs to get her to stop crying, Kirke finds herself on the cusp of delivering her new EP Country Curious to the world come February — a project produced by her friend and musical comrade Elle King. 

"We grew up together in New York City, and she was one of the first people that I met that played this kind of music," remembers Kirke of the "Ex's and Oh's" hitmaker. "We reconnected, and now we live near each other in Nashville. We've been friends for 20 years."

Having King holding her hand through her entry into the country music genre has helped Kirke find her way, find her sound, and find the confidence to truly be her authentic self.

"I've always felt like I have towed that line my whole life between feeling sad but wanting to have fun," laughs Kirke, whose father Simon was a rock drummer for bands including Bad Company and Free. "I feel like I've always just tried to make people laugh. I've always tried to make people feel better, so bringing that into my music feels really natural."

She knows, however, that she has her doubters.

"People can think what they want," says Kirke. "I don't really care that much. I kind of coined this term for myself — authentically authentic. What could be more human than trying to find a place that you belong? What could be more American than looking for that until you find it? I think country music is a staunchly American kind of music. Other places love it too, but I think that... I don't know. I'm coming at it from a different angle, but it's real for me too."

And yes, Kirke gets quite real on her new single "My House."

"It’s about kicking your boyfriend out of your house when they are bad," Kirke admits, laughing, about the song premiering exclusively on PEOPLE. "And then it’s about being bad yourself because that's how you are going to go through the healing process, so to speak."

It’s a song that King certainly put her touch on, in a way only she can. 

"She has a way of being like, 'This doesn't work, change it,'" jokes Kirke of her longtime friend. "Her style is very direct and very her. But I feel like when I played her ['My House'], I just saw her eyes widen and she was just like, 'Yes, this is it.' I couldn't imagine a better person than her to make a song about getting absolutely hammered and having fun and being a woman and just being chaotic, but in a way that helps you expand into your own life in a more harmonious way."

Certainly, "My House" is a song that she just might play at her Grand Ole Opry debut on Feb. 16, the very same day Country Curious is released.

"I always feel this imposter syndrome that I don't deserve any of these kinds of beautiful opportunities," confesses Kirke, who will spend much of 2024 on the road, including slots at Stagecoach and Green River festivals, and headline shows in Nashville, N.Y.C., Los Angeles, Austin and Chicago. "And then there's a deeper feeling of gratitude at being accepted or beginning to be accepted."

She pauses for a moment.

"I obviously think country music has great capacity to let you cry because there's some of the most beautiful, sad country songs," she says. "But I also think that there is a lot of invitation in country to just let loose and have a really, really good time."