The country music superstar has signed a multi-album deal with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records, officially ending his acrimonious relationship with his only previous label, Curb Records.

McGraw made the announcement Monday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. It’s the start of the second phase of one of country music’s most successful careers. Though the two sides remain locked in a legal dispute, a judge last year freed McGraw to begin recording for a new label.

McGraw tells The Associated Press he’s already working on new music and hopes to release a “landmark” album late this year or in early 2013.