In Carly Pearce's single "Closer to You," she muses about the desire that lingers between two people in a long-distance relationship. Written by veteran songwriter Hillary Lindsey along with Troy Verges and Gordie Sampson, the soulful song is a step in a new direction for Pearce. Though she didn't write it herself, it happens to coincide perfectly with a similar situation in her life: her relationship with Michael Ray

Read below to learn how Pearce, who has a new album in the works to follow her 2017 debut disc, Every Little Thing, feels about "Closer to You," as told to The Boot.

It’s about a long-distance relationship, which I very much can relate to and identify with right now. It’s no surprise that I’m in love. Everybody knows it. This song really, just in every way, gave me all of the feels that I’m feeling right now.

It’s definitely hard to be in a long-distance relationship, but it’s also really beautiful to want so badly to be with this person and to miss somebody like that, and it’s exactly how I feel ...

Just the nature of cycles for singles with country radio, it felt like I had to make a decision to either make a third single [from Every Little Thing] or to move on ... I already was writing and feeling inspired and had just grown so much as a person and as an artist, and started to realize that fans wanted the next chapter because they see so much and I’ve been so honest about everything going on in my life. It’s just an evolution of what you know me to be, and I’ve never been happier and just rooted in who I am as a woman ... I’m just really excited to get to dive a little bit deeper into who I am and show them the next side.

I think it’s a lot easier to take a little bit more of creative freedom when you know your foundation. I know who I am, I know the elements of me that fans love, I know what makes me me. Now it’s like I can almost color a little bit more out of the lines to show more personality and more of the real me, and can maybe put a couple songs on the album that aren’t radio songs, but fans will know exactly why I wrote that song and know my truth. I feel like I’ve made my splash into country music in a way that fans want to know the next chapter.

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