Before she was a tabloid jezebel straight out of central casting, LeAnn Rimes was a pint-sized country star. The Mississippi-born Rimes had a handful of huge hits (“Blue,” “How Do I Live”) and sold millions of albums when she was still a teenager.

Rimes, now 33, found the transition to adult stardom a rocky one, in which attention paid to her personal life far outstripped attention paid to her albums. In 2009, she and actor Eddie Cibrian left their spouses and eventually married each other, a seismic event chronicled on her 2013 comeback album “Spitfire,” and in the pages of Us magazine.

Rimes, who recently signed a record deal, got on the phone to talk about her in-progress, “drama-filled” new album, her strange childhood, and life among the haters.

Question: When you started out, you were making very mature adult contemporary albums. How involved were you in that sound?

ANSWER: That was definitely me. I was definitely an old soul when it came to what I was listening to. Being on Curb (Records) for 20 years, there were specific things I had to abide by, certain sounds.

QUESTION: Do you ever look back and think, I should’ve been in school?

ANSWER: I was 5 when I won my first song and dance competition, and my parents asked me if that is what I wanted to do, and I said, “Yeah.” At 5, how can you know that? On some level, I knew that was my gift. I signed my deal when I was 11, and the success I had, no one could explain that to an adult, what’s about to happen to them, much less a kid. There’s not many people around who’ve experienced that.

QUESTION: It’s 20 years since “Blue.” Do you look at it as one chapter closing, and now another opening?

ANSWER: Oh, for sure. I’m on great terms with that chapter. I can look back at all of those little pieces of me, ever since I was a kid, and have great respect for them and appreciation, and not feel any kind of bitterness or contempt for any situation I went through. I can look at the whole picture and say, OK, this set me up for (where) I am now. Being where I’m at, standing in these shoes, it feels amazing. It feels like a weight has been lifted.

QUESTION: “Spitfire” was a very personal, autobiographical album. Is the new album a continuation of that?

ANSWER: Absolutely. (This is a) completely different point of view, completely different place in my life. There was a lot of heartbreak and a lot of confusion, a lot of love on that record, but just from a different perspective. This album has a lot to do with love for myself, and appreciation for myself.