Carrie Underwood Taking Slower Approach for New Album

Working on the follow-up to 2009’s Play On, Carrie Underwood told NewsOK.com this week during a tour of her home state: “I’ve been able this summer to work a lot on my next album. I’m in and out of the recording studio, kind of taking things a little bit slower, which has been really nice because I’ve been able to do stuff like this.”

Underwood was in town not to perform but to help 200 volunteers and organizers in Checotah, Okla., build a playground at Marshall Elementary School. The country singer’s Checotah Animal Town, and School Foundation funded the project, and Underwood assisted with various physical aspects of installing and building the playground. She told the press: “Play is really important. You know, you hear every single day it seems on the news about ... childhood obesity numbers … and this is something that can affect their lives forever. You know, get 'em young. […] Kids want to play; they want to go outside; they want to burn off that energy. They'll be better in school if they've gone out at recess and been able to get it all out of their system. They sleep better. It's just better all around.”

The singer has been providing various updates about the state of her upcoming album. She told Billboard in September: "I've recorded vocals [for] six songs thus far. It's all about just making the best album that I possibly can. New songs are coming in all the time -- I'm still writing, and I've recently written some stuff I'm really, really excited about, so just throwing it all in the mix and seeing what comes out on top, because I really just really really want to go for it this time."

Underwood will be co-hosting the 2011 CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. The event is scheduled for November 9, and about working with Paisley, she said: "We've been kind of texting different ideas back and forth. We're gonna start working on our promos, our commercials and stuff, and it's gonna be good. We haven't had any big sit-down meetings yet, but we will."