Kellie Pickler delivers an inspired performance with a new single called 'Someone Somewhere Tonight.' The song -- originally recorded by Kenny Rogers -- is a soaring ballad that touches a range of emotions. Few will find nothing relatable on the singer's first release from an upcoming album.

Thick electric guitar chords add a touch of contemporary to a mostly traditional arrangement that builds on the sound Pickler shared on '100 Proof,' her last album with Sony Nashville. The instrument also leads the build up to a powerful catharsis at the end.

Each verse contrasts two very different stories. There's hope and innocence followed by gloom and desperation. "Someone somewhere tonight is taking their first steps / Letting go of the hands that held them / And trusting themselves," Pickler sings to begin before adding  "Someone somewhere tonight is hearing their last rights / And hoping with all their might / That there's something else."

Later it's two lovers wrapped up in each other and an alcoholic praying for answers. Each verse is punctuated by Pickler's personal plea for love and comfort. "Well babe lie down here beside me / Let's lie real still / And tell me you love me / And you always will," she sings, clearly speaking to husband Kyle Jacobs.

Walt Wilkins and Davis Raines wrote 'Someone Somewhere Tonight' but Pickler owns the message and all the attached emotions. Her performance is just short of the magical tear-jerking performance one feels coming from the first note, but still amongst the best and most genuine of her career. It's refreshing to hear her sing from a place of love as opposed to a place of pain as she did early in her career with ballads like 'I Wonder.' The calm that Jacobs helped her find is allowing for her best music yet.

4.5 Stars
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Listen to Kellie Pickler, 'Someone Somewhere Tonight'

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