"There's a moment you feel a record grab hold, and take shape," Chesney says. "You can have great songs and not have an album. You can have a killer record that won't move people on the radio. The idea is to balance both, then hopefully create something that does both, that also says something as a whole. I think we're on our way."

Drawing on David Lee Murphy ("Living In Fast Forward," "Pirate Flag"), Josh Osborne ("Wild Child," "Come Over," the GRAMMY-winning "Merry Go 'Round") and Shane McAnally ("Somewhere With You," "American Kids," "Come Over") Chesney has also mined Matraca Berg ("You & Tequila"), the Oscar-nominee Allison Moorer and Americana Artist of the Year nominee Hayes Carll, as well as a few surprises.

"There are a few writers who get me, who get my life and my soul," Chesney says. "And I was lucky enough to have time to write with them. But I also got to hear a lot of great songs, some different writers, so there was a lot of music this time to draw from and be inspired by."