There comes a time in everyone’s life that it’s time to grow up. And for Maren Morris, that rite of passage somewhat inspired her new single, “Girl.”

“Me choosing 'Girl' as the first single [from an upcoming album], it’s about transitioning from someone who felt like she didn't need anybody into someone who very much needs people, and is okay with admitting that,” Morris says in a new interview with Billboard. “That really frightening vulnerability that I've been trying to avoid, I’m not doing that any longer.”

Indeed, while Morris is two years from turning 30 years old, “The Middle” hitmaker says she believes that marrying Ryan Hurd last year changed everything for her, both personally and professionally.

“And I feel like the last two years, after touring and growing up a bit more — and obviously I’ve found somebody that understands me now, and have fallen in love and gotten married — my [perspective on] songwriting is just a little different. It’s a little lighter than it was the first time around!” she says with a laugh, adding, "I’m not quite as bitter."

Morris is bringing that new maturity to her upcoming album.

“This album is really about self-acceptance and partner acceptance,” she says. “The first half of the album is very self-reflective, and it's more about me. Then the second half of the record transitions into me being the counterpart to somebody else. I didn’t have any love songs on [debut album] Hero, so there are a lot more on this one, and I think that’s been a really beautiful side to being a touring musician: You never see the person, you miss them all the time, and he’s a musician as well, so we’re constantly writing with each other or about each other. A lot of these songs reflect that."

Morris will head off on the “Girl: The World Tour” starting March 9 in Chicago. She's bringing along Cassadee Pope and RaeLynn as her support acts.

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