Lainey Wilson Channels ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in ‘Somewhere Over Laredo’ Video (Exclusive)

In her new music video for “Somewhere Over Laredo,” Lainey Wilson embarks on an unexpected plane ride where she cascades through computer-generated cotton candy skies, lounges in a bed that sits at the center of a field and walks through the desert with her (real-life) French Bulldog, Hippie, by her side.

The visual is notably a departure for the country star, becoming an opportunity for her to “push boundaries” and go beyond her comfort zone.

“I had the time of my life doing it,” Wilson, 33, tells PEOPLE. “I was doing all kinds of things, pretending to be falling through the air, the sky, and all of these crazy things that I had never done before.”

“Somewhere Over Laredo,” which is featured on Wilson’s 2024 album Whirlwind, became her biggest streaming debut. And its success isn’t lost on the Grammy winner.

“Sometimes you just throw things against the wall and you see what sticks, and this one right here feels like it’s going to be one of those songs that I am happy to sing 30 years from now,” she says.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Wilson details the making of her latest music video and reveals where she’s at in her songwriting process and who she dreams of collaborating with in the future.

PEOPLE: The music video for “Somewhere Over Laredo” is really trippy. Why did you want the visual to have that feeling?

LAINEY WILSON: I had not had the opportunity to make a video that I felt like deserved that kind of trippiness. When you think about The Wizard of Oz, and you think about the “Yellow Brick Road,” of course, you think of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and this [song] is an interpolation of that. It’s a way for us to tip our hat to that and acknowledge how timeless of a song that is. It was important for me to kind of draw the parallel between the songs.

PEOPLE: So, the concept was essentially to create this Wizard of Oz-like world.

WILSON: We definitely knew that we wanted to tap into that, and so we gave the director some kind of heads up that like, “Hey, we’re interested in tapping into this, how can we kind of lean into a little bit of that?” It was a collaborative effort, I guess you could say, especially bridging the gap between going really trippy [and] into the western side of things. So, it’s a western, trippy music video. It was fun to be able to bridge that gap.

PEOPLE: Was that your cute dog featured in the music video?

WILSON: That’s my dog. Her name is Hippie Mae Wilson, and I’m so proud. My little French Bulldog. I’m a proud dog mom. She can do no wrong. When it came to the storyline, it was [the filmmakers.] Having Hippie involved came from me.

PEOPLE: What has it been like for you to have “Somewhere Over Laredo” as your biggest streaming song?

WILSON: Honestly, I am proud of the song, and I felt like it was special the moment we finished it. I felt it in my spirit that the songwriter was going to take people to a nostalgic place, and I’m so glad that my gut was right because it seems like people are latching onto it and connecting to it. It’s crazy to see the reaction.

PEOPLE: Why did you want “Somewhere Over Laredo” specifically to be a single?

WILSON: Writing and recording that record and even starting to play those songs off of that record at my shows, it was still during a time of my life I felt was constantly changing daily. I still feel like my life is constantly changing, but I’ve got my feet under me a little bit more. I’ve come up for air.

And once I wrote these songs for the deluxe that’s coming out, I felt like these songs right here were coming from a place that were on the tail-end of Whirlwind. I know we’re going to have different seasons in our life, and the dust can be kicked back up, but I was finally starting to get my boots under me. “Somewhere Over Laredo” just felt that way. It had a calmness to it. Even though it is talking about lost love, it still had this bittersweet, nostalgic feeling to it that I felt like I could tap into once the dust finally started to settle a little bit.

PEOPLE: I know the deluxe edition of Whirlwind is coming out next month, but I wanted to ask. What’s the status of your next project?

WILSON: I have been writing some songs. It has been so much fun. Even in the past couple weeks, I’ve been feeling very inspired. We’re trying to figure out which direction we are going, but the more songs that I write for the project, it seems like it’s going to happen. I’m not the type of artist to write 12 or 15 songs, and that’s what makes the record. I want to write 100 songs, and then we find the 12 or 15.

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PEOPLE: What has inspired the sound of your next project?

WILSON: It’s kind of a continuation, talking about that feeling after the “whirlwind.” I still feel like every single day I’m learning how to navigate life and trying to pay attention to the things that bring me that peace. I think this next batch of music is going to nod its head to that.

PEOPLE: In the future, who do you dream of collaborating with?

WILSON: There’s so many people on my list. I would love to do something with Miley Cyrus, of course. I mean, I used to impersonate Hannah Montana. So, I always say Miley, and I’m going to keep saying it until we do something together. When it comes to country, I’d love to do something with Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, the list goes on and on.

PEOPLE: You launched your boot line, Golden West, and the “Somewhere Over Laredo” boot is quite popular. How does that boot tie in with the song?

WILSON: I am very excited about Golden West, and I was so pleased to see that the “Somewhere Over Laredo” boot was doing the best, which kind of shocked me. I didn’t know if people were going to be as drawn to bold patterns and colors like I am. It’s cool to see that people are okay with stepping outside of the box and rocking something that’s a little different. When I think of the song, I think of the colors that are on the boot.

The deluxe version of Whirlwind is out on Aug. 22.