Joe Nichols goes on the record about his struggles with alcohol addiction.

The country music star is profiling his battle with addiction, which includes a rehab stint, in his new album, Old Things New.

Nichols says of the album, his first in over two years, "This album means a lot to me, not just because of the music that's on there, just because, like I said, it's a new beginning. You know, it seems like there's a theme behind each song, a theme that can be bigger than just the song."

When it comes to the messages he's trying to convey in the album, he says, "I need to make sure you understand exactly how painful this is, and I need to make sure you understand exactly where I'm coming from. It's important to me, may never mean a thing to you, but it's important to me that you understand."

Of his decision to get help, Joe reports, "I think there were a lot of people around that, that knew that I had a problem, you know, and I knew that I had a problem." The singer says his wife Heather was steadfast in her support of him, and showed "tough love," which helped to motivate him to confront his drinking issue.

And when it comes to some of his classic tunes that feature lyrics about alcohol, he says he will keep singing them: "Just because I'm not drinking a half a gallon of tequila doesn't mean that I can't at least have fun with everybody and have fun in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way with a song. I'm not going to ruin everyone else's good time."

Old Things New is available in stores now.