Early this morning (Aug. 23), Luke Bryan released a new single, “Light It Up,” which is the first single from his upcoming sixth studio album due later this year. The new tune focuses on the singer’s unrequited love for a girl as he beckons her to “light it up,” a reference to calling him back on the phone.

On the heels of today’s release, Luke stopped by the Nash Country Daily campus to talk about the new single as well as his upcoming album.

“[The single] is a good mid-tempo, and I think it just really defines kinda where people are these days,” says Luke to NCD. “You use your phones—we’ve both got our phones right here. You use your phones so much and you use text messaging so much. The song is about a guy who is just waiting for his phone to buzz and light up and see if she’s gonna call him up for a late-night rendezvous. When Brad [Tursi] and I sat down to write the song, I just remember going, ‘This is kinda what people do these days. They use their phones to break-up and get back together.’”

As far as his upcoming sixth studio album, Luke admits it was a stressful endeavor but that he feels he’s created some pretty special stuff for his fans.

“I still get as stressed as ever,” says Luke. “I may be more stressed about [the new album] than ever. You just wanna keep making the best music you can make, and you obviously want to move the needle and sound a little different but you don’t want to do anything to freak your fan base out. So it’s a daunting challenge when you think about sitting around trying to put a new album together. But it’s still fun, too. When you get it completed, you’ve got something you’re proud of—it’s pretty special stuff.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wpUv4I_fQk