Hayden Panettiere is gearing up to release her first album.

The not-unattractive Heroes star played her first single, "Wake Up Call," on Ryan Seacrest's KISS-FM radio show Tuesday afternoon – and opened up about the "very different, very diverse" songs comprising the album.

"They're a little bit eclectic," Panettiere said. The actress described the experience of hearing her music on the radio as "scary" and "terrifying."

Hayden, the subject of engagement rumors with boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia, put a lot of effort into the songs on her debut disc.

In fact, the project has been four years in the making.

"[The music] changed so much over the years," she says, "just because my life experiences and who I am as a person is obviously reflected in the music."

When it comes to her own musical tastes, the actress says her listening habits are equally eclectic - from Luciano Pavarotti to rapper Nas.

Hayden Panettiere also hopes that spirit permeates her music. Her wish for the disc is simply "[to make] sure that music didn't all sound the same."

With her album on the horizon, Panettiere shows no signs of slowing down. She's already filming the third season of her popular NBC drama.

"Everyone's so excited," she says of the upcoming season, set for September 22. "It's the same action, the same high-intensity as the first season."

As for juicy Heroes spoilers, all the actress would say was this:

"A couple of us actually get to play two different characters [because] for a second we go back and forth between the present and future and our future characters are very different."

Here's Hayden Panettiere singing "Wake Up Call" ...