Scotty McCreery's ready to get to work on his next album

Past American Idol winner Scotty McCreery's third studio album is a go.

The 21-year-old singer, a presenter at Monday's American Country Countdown Awards in Nashville, met with executives at his record label earlier in the day to make it official.

"The next single will be off the next record," says McCreery, who won Idol in 2011. "We're going to start working on it in January. We've got a few times blocked off to go write and go record."

GALLERY: 2014 American Country Countdown Awards red carpet

WINNERS: 2014 American Country Countdown Awards

Both McCreery's 2011 debut Clear as Day and last year's See You Tonight debuted atop Billboard's country albums chart, and the top-10 title track from See You Tonight recently gave him his third platinum single.

"It'll be a fun year," McCreery says of 2015. "I love the album years, when the creative process gets going."