In his latest single, “Record Year,” Eric Church sings about licking his wounds from a failed relationship by spinning records on his turntable, instead of finding solace in another’s arms.

“There’s a line in the song that talks about ‘slowly planning my survival/in a three-foot stack of vinyl,’ and I remember, whatever it is that I had to get over or get past or get through, I remember records being my refuge during that time,” says Eric.

The new single name checks Stevie Wonder’s “Songs In The Key of Life,” Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger,” John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” among others from Church’s stack of vinyl. Upon the album’s surprise release last November, Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed the new single the “most moving moment” on the widely-lauded album.

Church co-wrote “Record Year” with longtime banjo player and guitarist Jeff Hyde who has previously collaborated on hits such as the three-week No. 1 “Springsteen” (along with Ryan Tyndell) from the ACM and CMA Album of the Year Chief and the anthematic Top 20 “Smoke a Little Smoke” (written by Church and Hyde alongside other bandmate Driver Williams) from 2009’s Carolina, a release that has since been pointed to as a pivotal shift in musical direction for “our greatest working rock star” (Stereogum).

The North Carolina native feels it’ll probably rank as one of his biggest hits. “It IS a song that I’m proud of,” he says, adding, “and I think it’ll be one of the bigger ones in our career.”

Eric has six nominations going into next month’s ACM Awards, including his first nomination for Entertainer of the Year. He also is up for Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood, Male Vocalist of the Year, Video of the Year for his surprise album’s title track and two more nominations, Musical Event of the Year and Song of the Year, for “Raise ‘Em Up” with Keith Urban. The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 3rd at 8pm ET/delayed PT on CBS.