This Is Us star Chrissy Metz recently announced she was releasing a single, “Talking to God,” to country radio. The award-winning actress has always felt drawn to country music, mostly because of its ability to tell compelling stories through song.

“Country music for me has always been about the values of what the storytelling really is about, and it always really spoke to my soul and my spirit and my heart,” Chrissy shared with her record label. “You can cry to it, you can dance to it, you can have the best road trips to it. I just love me some country music. The artists that I really admire are beautiful storytellers that really speak from the heart and they just sing and tell stories about real life in their most authentic self.”

Chrissy, who previously released “I’m Standing With You,” from the movie, Breakthrough, felt an instant conneciton with “Talking to God” the first time she heard it.

“’Talking to God’ is a really special song for me,” Chrissy previously said. “I know that all music is interpreted by everyone’s own perception, but for me when I heard the song it resonated in a way – when the line says, ‘I was talking to God and your name came up,’ for me that was thinking about and praying for people that might not be in your life anymore, but they impacted your life or they have a special place in your heart. They may not be good for you any longer, but you still care about them and you still wish them well, whether it’s a previous relationship, friendship.

“Gosh, when I heard it, I was immediately just taken aback and also, I felt so compelled to tell this story,” she continued. “Even though I had no part in writing it, I just knew that I had to tell the story because I’ve lived it and I think we all have. Unfortunately, we have regrets or decisions we would’ve made differently, so, yeah.”

Download “Talking to God” on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of BMLG / Joseph Llanes