Pop-turned-country star Michelle Branch [ tickets ] has a good attitude. When she discusses the break-up of The Wreckers, her duo with Jessica Harp, she sighs, but quickly returns to form.

"It was like a divorce, emotionally," Branch said via telephone from her Nashville home. "It was really hard for both of us. I'm happy. We both have solo records coming out. We just tell Wreckers fans, 'You know what? Now you have two Wreckers albums coming out. So be happy, I guess, with that.' It was really hard but it gave me a lot to write about. I wouldn't change anything for the world."

The result is Branch's forthcoming album, "Everything Comes and Goes," which will hit stores this fall. It is her first solo album in six years. The first single, "Sooner or Later," surfaced on country radio Aug. 11.

Branch, 26, spoke to LiveDaily about the new album, touring with Chris Isaak and her positive attitude.

This summer, you toured with Chris Isaak. How did that tour come about?

We're friends. He asked me to sing on his new record, which I was really, really thrilled to do. Fortunately, we share the same manager. We've kind of all become close. When he was looking for someone to open, I was always going, 'Hey I'll play with you. I'll play with you.' I think, at first, they thought I was just trying to be nice. 'No, really I want to play with you.' Then we started thinking, 'Oh cool. I'd be able to possibly guest on some of the songs that I sing on the record and it would be really fun.' It's kind of keeping it all in the family, which is nice. I like to tour that way.

What is he like?

He's like my honorary crazy uncle or something. We met years and years ago when I was on his show and we kept in touch ever since. He's just such a good guy. It's great to have that camaraderie. He has the best sense of humor. The things that come out of his mouth--how does he think of these things?

Tell me about the making of "Everything Comes and Goes."

It's been a journey making this record. It's been a long process. When it really dawned on me that The Wreckers were no more, I started writing a lot about that experience, and once I started writing about that, it just opened the flood gates. I hadn't written by myself in so long. I really started this record almost two years ago. It's just been going back and forth and back and forth. I've been wanting to make this a country album and I've been trying to make all the cooks in the kitchen happy because I still technically am on Warner Bros. and not Warner Bros. Nashville. I think everybody wanted a record, so I was trying to keep everybody happy. But the funniest thing is, the song I really wanted to be the single a year ago ("Sooner or Later"), they ended up picking it. I wish they had decided a little bit sooner but I'm a firm believer in "everything happens for a reason." Who knows why things happen the way they do. I'm happy it's been released.

Who produced the album?

John Shanks, who I've done my first two albums with, and John Leventhal, who I've done The Wreckers album with--and, weirdly, they have the same birthday. It's a very strange thing. One's in New York and one's in L.A. I say I have my two Johns. They both did the record and it was a really cool experience because I got to be really choosy with some of the songs. I could say, "Hey, John Shanks, do this song." I wanted to give myself options, so I would have John Leventhal do the same songs and I ended up having two different versions of almost every song on the album, which is probably why it took so long. But it was kind of like being a kid in a candy store, getting to hear two people's perspectives on the same song. It was fun to work that way.

Did you do the album in Nashville or Los Angeles?

The majority in Nashville. John Leventhal's wife is Rosanne Cash. Unfortunately, when we started this record, she had to go in for brain surgery. Fortunately, she's OK now, but because she had just been in surgery, he had to be close to his wife, so I ended up doing his portion of the album in New York. Only at the very end did we sneak down here for a bit.

Earlier, you spoke about The Wreckers' "divorce." You have such a positive outlook on it.

Maybe in the past I didn't see the glass as half full. I saw it half empty. I have a daughter who's 4. Something about having her drastically changed the way that I saw things and changed my perspective on how to digest stuff that goes on. I'm trying to see the positives--I say with a laugh.