For singer/songwriter Jesse McCartney [ tickets ], it was an easy call to name his latest album "Departure." It signifies a new era for McCartney, a part-time actor who this time delved into a pop/R&B sound.

"I landed on that title for a couple of reasons," McCartney said. "Before this album, it had been awhile [since] I had been in the spotlight with any sort of music. I wanted to make a big comeback with something that was going to smack people over the head.

"Sonically, the sound of this album is definitely way different than anything the fans have heard from me in the past. Compared to [the 2004 breakthrough ballad] 'Beautiful Soul,' it sounds a little bit more urban, a little bit more R&B and rhythmic. I think it just shows growth. That's why we landed on that title."

This spring, McCartney was scheduled to take a break from music to pursue acting. He was recently seen on "Law and Order: SVU," will star on ABC Family's "Greek" in March, and was slated to star as Prince Zuko in M. Night Shyamalan's forthcoming feature film for Paramount, "The Last Airbender." However, he has pulled out of that project and Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire") will take his place.

McCartney, who co-penned Leona Lewis' hit "Bleeding Love" with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, talked to LiveDaily about "Departure," his songwriting process and singing in front of millions on Thanksgiving Day.

LiveDaily: How do you manage to balance your acting and singing careers?

Jesse McCartney: It's tough but it's just that--it's a balancing act. I think you just sort of know when it's time to pay the other one more attention. I've been so focused on the music the last couple of years, which is great. The success of this past album, "Departures" and the singles have launched me back on the Top 40 map and back into the folks' eyes. There's a lot more [fans] I have to convince in the acting world. The TV show "Greek" is gonna air in March on ABC. I did four or five episodes of that. People are going to see that side of me.

What was your songwriting process for "Departure"?

The first five or six months was just me searching, me trying to come up with new, fresh sounds, sort of find a template to go off of. There's a song on the album called "My Baby," which soon became the template when I heard these big, shameless, synth sounds being played and this big drum pattern in the back. I just wanted to make a statement. The writing process was just a little different, too. It was written on the piano this time around, the keys as opposed to the guitar. So, sonically, it is going to take on a different sound. Other than that, as far as the ideas, the concepts were still drawn from the same place. I worked with a bunch of different producers this time around. And it's always going to sound different.

How was it to work with Ryan Tedder on "Bleeding Love"?

He's a cool guy. I worked with him before he was even in OneRepublic. This was right before his band came out. He was just "Ryan the writer." He was great. He's a great writer. We got in together and started jamming, started messing around. I'm sure we'll do it again soon. I'm pretty stoked.

Have you thought of performing "Bleeding Love" live?

No. I know we released a copy of it [on an import album]. That was the original demo. When it was written, someone had to record it. You know, we were writing it. It was the two of us in the studio. I just jumped behind the mike and started cutting. Then we released it. I don't really perform it live. I might at some point. It's one of those things that it's such a Leona song at this point that I just let her have that. It's her thing.

Was it hard to give up?

Not at all. It wasn't really, for me, anyway. It was a record that was going to sound weird on this album. We had always thought that a female vocal on it would sound even better. We gladly handed it to Simon Cowell. When you give something to Simon Cowell, he just looks at it and it turns to gold. It was a good call, I think.

How was it to perform during halftime of the Detroit Lions game on Thanksgiving. That must have been nerve-wracking.

It was surreal. I grew up watching the Thanksgiving games and being on the 50-yard line is pretty crazy. Seventy thousand people in the stadium like that, let alone the 40 million people watching--it was pretty crazy.