Following the ascension of her song "Heartbeat" to No. 1, Carrie Underwood has selected "Church Bells" as the next single from her Storyteller album.

Underwood made the announcement on Facebook on Tuesday (March 29), citing fans' love of the song as (at least part of) the reason for its selection as a single. Written by Zach Crowell, Brett James and Hillary Lindsey, and produced by Mark Bright, "Church Bells" is one of Underwood's patented story songs; with a laugh, she calls it ""Fancy"'s little sister."

"She's young, she's pretty, she's poor, doin' what she can to survive, meets a man that has a lot of wealth and is supposed to take care of her and get her out of this, and she ends up with him, and he ends up not being a good guy at all," the singer summarizes, "and it forces her to be strong, and it forces her to do something that she never thought she'd be able to do.

"And she ends up ... um, she ends up killing him, which is not a new subject for me," Underwood adds, "but again, it's just one of those -- there's a beginning, there's a middle, and there's resolution at the end of the song ..."

Throughout "Church Bells," the titular bells "evolve," the country star explains, to represent different things to the song's protagonist: "In the beginning they represent a wedding; in the middle, they represent her needing some help after he abuses her ... so then at the end, of course, the church bells represent the ones the ring out at his funeral, and she's free.

"... A lot happens in, like, three and a half minutes," Underwood notes.

Press play below to hear "Church Bells." The song officially hits country radio on April 11, but on Sunday (April 3), Underwood will perform it during the 2016 ACM Awards.

In January, Underwood embarked on her Storyteller Tour, and she recently wrapped up a run of international dates as part of Europe’s massive Country to Country (C2C) Music Festival. Underwood will conclude the Storyteller tour in London, Ontario, on May 30.

Listen to Carrie Underwood, "Church Bells":

Carrie Underwood Talks "Church Bells"

Carrie Underwood's Best Single and Album Covers

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