Smoke Break

Carrie Underwood penned this song with frequent collaborators Hillary Lindsey and Chris DeStefano. It tells the stories of a "small-town, hard-working woman just trying to make a living" and a "big-city, hard-working man just trying to climb the ladder." "The song itself is one of those story songs I feel like everybody can relate to, about how life is so hectic," the singer explained. "And it's so nice when - if and when - you actually get to step away for a second. We all need that, and we all need that time to ourselves and to get to take a break."

The song was produced by Jay Joyce, who has also worked with Eric Church, Little Big Town and Emmylou Harris. The track features a rockier, edgier sound than Underwood's previous material. "I want everything to have its own space and look different, sound different, feel different," Underwood said. "So I've been working with another producer, as well as with Mark Bright, who I'm always gonna love, but getting things a little different, and it's been fun."

Responding to a fan's question about the song during a Facebook chat, Underwood detailed the inspiration for the song, "We were writing and kept taking breaks to go outside because we were getting a little stuck on a song we were already working on," she wrote. "It was so beautiful outside that we had a hard time focusing, so we decided to write a song about taking breaks! 'Smoke Break' seemed like a great title, so we ran with it!"