Brantley Gilbert and Jana Kramer broke off their engagement last year, after almost a year together. But while Gilbert previously said he would only talk about the split in his new album, 'Just As I Am,' the singer has finally opened up about the break-up, and his current relationship with his former fiancee.

"I'll be completely honest with you. That little girl's wonderful," he tells Seattle radio station 100.7 The Wolf. "I love her to death. I care about her. She's going to make somebody a wonderful, wonderful wife, and a wonderful, wonderful mother. But between she and I, the situation does exist where it just didn't work. And that's the case. Some things happened and it didn't work out. But we still talk. I think the world of her. She's one of the most genuine people I know. And that's the honest to God truth. I think the world of that little girl."

Gilbert says that his new album was the perfect channel to express all of his feelings about the relationship, both the good and the bad.

"There's several things on that record that hit me in the heart, a pretty solid punch," he acknowledges. "And I feel like if you leave those off, you're cheating yourself and everybody else out of the true story. There's songs on that record that cover the good times that we had, and man, those are irreplaceable. When I sing those, it doesn't hurt as much. Those are the good times, man, and I think we get so wrapped up sometimes into the fact that things are over, that you forget how much you learned, and forget about the good times. The bad seems to wash all of that out. And, with this, I'm kind of at a place in my life right now where, looking back, I remember the good stuff. And these songs, I feel like if you write a song the right way, you relive it every time you sing it."

Gilbert channeled a lot of his feelings about Kramer into one song, 'I'm Gone,' on the upcoming album.

"The song's not written to be mean whatsoever," he insists. "I've always been that way where, if something doesn't work out the first time, I won't try to beat a dead horse. It is what it is. I think, with these songs, looking back, the good ones and the bad times, it just reiterates the fact that, we made the right decision. We went for broke, man. We went hard, we went fast. And there's all those questions that were unanswered for a long time. Do I really know what kind of love is? All of that's answered. I do. I still love that girl to death."

The Georgia native adds that, while their romantic relationship didn't work out, he still has nothing but positive things to say about Kramer.

"I do know she's a wonderful person, and she doesn't have much room for hate in her heart. If she reserved all of that for me, I probably understand it, but I hope that's not the case."

'Just As I Am' will be released on May 20. Pre-order the record here.

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