Brett Eldredge is seemingly on top of the country music world these days. His new single, “Lose My Mind,” is moving up the charts—supported by a provocative video with Victoria’s Secret model Rachel Hilbert—and his new album, Illinois, has just the stores. The soulful crooner sat down with Myspace recently to talk about the new record.

Listening to this album, you rolled the dice creatively and took some chances with an R&B vibe.

I never want to be the guy who does the same thing twice. The things that people loved from the first album, I want to take some of that vibe and carry it over, but I also want to show a little more soulful side of me. I think it led into me trying a few more things musically and growing more as an artist, but still being true to myself. When people hear this album, I want them to know that it’s me, but also maybe hear something that they haven’t heard from me yet. That’s why “Lose My Mind” was the first single. If they love that, I think they are going to love this record.

The title cut seems to me to be your “Walking In Memphis.” What does the title Illinois mean to you?

When I hear that, I think that we all have that moment where we are homesick. When I hear it, it gives me a sense of warmth. Everything about that place is me. When I drove up to the record label one day and saw a banner with Illinois under my name, I thought, Man, if there ever was going to be an album about me and my life, it’s this one. That’s my music. That’s my life.

The album features a couple of songs with connections to some notable artists. First of all, there’s “Lose It All,” which was co-written with Grand Ole Opry stalwart Bill Anderson….

On the first album, I had a song called “Signs,” and it was written with Bill Anderson. He was an idol of mine and somebody that I looked up to. He’s written so many incredible songs over the decades, and the fact that I get to write with him is amazing. I wanted to have another album with his name on it. So much of what I love about country music is the heartbreak songs, and I wanted one for this. I wanted this song to see the light of day and to have written it with a country legend, that’s a double bonus.

And, then you have “You Can’t Stop Me,” which is a vocal collaboration with Thomas Rhett.

He and I are going on tour together, and it’s so crazy getting to make music with people that you love. I’ve been very fortunate to tour with people whose music I love a lot. I love what he does. Our careers are rising together. I wrote the song, which I had in mind to do myself, but then I thought, This sounds like a guy’s night on the town. Why don’t I bring Thomas in on this? I sent it to him, and he emailed me back and said that he wanted to be a part of it.

Can you talk about the upcoming CMT on Tour run that the two of you are going to make?

We started talking about doing a different concept with a co-headlining tour and taking it to the next level for both of us. We’ll switch it up every night. Who goes first or last doesn’t matter. We’ll jam together. We both have gotten so inspired, and we get to create our own thing for the first time. We’re ready for it. We’ve talked about putting in some classic Soul and Motown stuff. He and I were both inspired by a lot of the same sounds.

Let’s talk about “Fire,” which kicks off the album.

I wanted to start the album with that, because it has such an energy to it. My hope is that someone turns it on and they think that it’s a unique groove that they haven’t heard from me yet. I did that several times on the album. I wanted to have something for everyone on this album, and I think that song captured the feeling of being lucky enough to score this girl that walks into the room and everybody is staring at her, and you’re the guy that she wants to dance with. That’s what the song is about.

What has the early response to the new music been like so far?

It’s been incredible. People have been very responsive. I think it’s crazy that people are gravitating toward my music like this and buying into me as an artist that they want to listen to. I’m so excited that listeners are taking to it.