Three years is a long time in geopolitics. In 2003 the Dixie Chicks were condemned as traitors in America after telling a London audience they were ashamed that their president came from Texas. Now the group's angry new song addressing that controversy looks set to become a hit.

Not Ready to Make Nice, due to be released in May, refers to death threats the three Texans received after the Guardian reported how they had criticised George Bush during a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," singer Natalie Maines told the audience.

Numerous US radio stations removed the group from their playlists. "In my book the Dixie Chicks are traitors," one columnist wrote at the time. "Not only to America but also to everything good that country music stands for."

But that was in a year when Mr Bush, who actually comes from Connecticut, enjoyed approval ratings of up to 70%. This month his rating reached a new low of 36%, according to a CNN/Gallup poll.

The song's lyrics pull no punches: "Forgive, sounds good/Forget, I'm not sure I could/They say time heals everything/ But I'm still waiting ... And how in the world can the words that I said/Send somebody so over the edge/That they'd write me a letter/Sayin' that I better shut up and sing/Or my life will be over?"

Some Texas stations still refuse to air the group's music, but those that have played it say it has been well received, and Billboard Radio Monitor predicts a hit.

Maines describes the album as "pure therapy". "I'm way more at peace now. Writing these songs and saying everything we had to say makes it possible to move on," she says on the Dixie Chicks website.