Jessica Simpson is embracing her new chapter as a “very single lady.” The “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer has been hard at work in the recording studio amid her split from estranged husband Eric Johnson, and on Friday, she revealed how her breakup inspired her latest album as she made a surprise appearance at a music festival. Just days after performing at South by Southwest–her first concert in 15 years–Simpson opened up about her life being “turned upside down” as stepped out in her second animal print look of the week.

The Employee of the Month actress took to the stage at the Luck Reunion festival on Friday in a sleeveless animal print bustier dress with a sweetheart neckline–a similar look to the leopard print jumpsuit she wore at the airport a few days earlier. She styled the bold midi-length style with a low-slung silver and turquoise belt featuring an ornate buckle, a cream crochet cardigan, and statement turquoise rings and bracelets. Simpson topped off her look with layers of necklaces including a choker and a large ornamental silver and turquoise piece, middle-parted blonde waves, and a bronzed complexion.

Ahead of the release of her first album in 16 tears, Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1, on March 21, Simpson performed “Use My Heart Against Me,” “Leave,” and “Sunday Lover” from her upcoming EP, as well as her Dukes of Hazzard cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” Her surprise appearance on Friday comes just hours after she debuted four new tracks at the Recording Academy’s Austin Chapter Block Party on March 12. 

Simpson reportedly opened up about her marriage with Johnson during the show as she shared that her “heart [was] wide open” while recording her upcoming album in Nashville. “I was in a very intuitive state and I had asked some very personal questions on the home front and I found out that my world had been turned upside down and that life was now very different,” she told the crowd.

“You know, when we open our hearts, sometimes we’re vulnerable and it just gets broken and maybe sometimes we forget that we’ve been broken for a really long time,” she added.

Emphasizing that she was currently a “very single lady,” Simpson revealed that she’d found healing by getting back into writing music. Before performing her son “Leave,” which she introduced as a “kind of a heartbreak, pissed-off song,” she shared, “When we meet ourselves, when we write, when we sing, when we connect with ourselves, we find all the answers.”