Sam Hunt's "2016" is a confessional track, expressing regret for the way a relationship ended and how he acted in its aftermath. The country star performed the unreleased track, which will be on his forthcoming new album, during UMG Nashville's Thursday (Feb. 20) luncheon at the 2020 Country Radio Seminar.

"It's one of the more stripped-down, intimate songs" on Southside, Hunt's new album, the star told the audience of country radio programmers and industry members assembled at the Ryman Auditorium. Accompanied by two acoustic players, he debuted the new track, the chorus of which ends, "I'd take 2016 and give it back to you."

"I'd drive 1,000 miles to your house / Walk in like I walked out / Put the tears back in your eyes," Hunt sings in the chorus. Although Hunt did not confirm the song's inspiration, it's lyrics appear to be rooted in Hunt's formerly on-again, off-again relationship with his now-wife, Hannah Lee Fowler. The two announced their engagement in early 2017, with Hunt later admitting that he'd spent plenty of time during the prior year trying to win Fowler -- the inspiration for many of the songs on Hunt's debut album, Montevallo -- back.

Hunt's sophomore album, Southside, will arrive on April 3. It will be Hunt's first album since 2014's Montevallo. The singer followed that record up with the 2017 megahit "Body Like a Back Road" and 2018's "Downtown's Dead," but has not released a full-length project since.

After a busy few years, Hunt took nearly all of 2019 off from the road to work on his sophomore album, which he said was due to his label on Jan. 1. He's already dropped "Kinfolks," "Sinning With You" and "Hard to Forget" from the project, which will also include the previously released "Downtown's Dead," "Body Like a Back Road" and "Drinkin Too Much," and a song called "Nothing Lasts Forever," which he's occasionally played live.

On May 28, Hunt will kick off the Southside Summer Tour on May 28 in Charlotte, N.C. More than 40 stops are planned, and the singer will be bringing Kip Moore and country up-and-comers Travis Denning and Ernest on the road with him; Brandi Cyrus will also DJ a set.

Hunt is currently awaiting trial in a DUI case after being arrested in East Nashville in November. An original court date was set for mid-January but did not take place as scheduled, though it is unclear why.

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