"You Look Good" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

and serves as the first single from the group's seventh studio album, ''

Heart Break ''Heart Break'' is the fifth studio album by American contemporary R&B, R&B quintet New Edition, released June 20, 1988 by MCA Records. It is the first album to return the Boston-reared band as a quintet after the public exit of original member B ...

'' (2017), and it features lead vocals from both Scott and Kelley. It was released on January 19, 2017 through

Capitol Records Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States-based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee operating as part of the Universal Music Group Nashville. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records, before returning ...

and impacted American country radio on January 23. The song was written by

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bo ...

Ryan Hurd Ryan James Hurd (born November 2, 1986) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In addition to writing No. 1 singles for Blake Shelton, Lady A, and Luke Bryan, Hurd has recorded for RCA Records Nashville. Career Hurd was born in C ...

, and its producer, busbee.

Background and release

In 2015, Lady Antebellum began experiencing declining success with the singles released from their sixth studio album, '' 747'' (2014), which the band attributes to a "fatigue" amongst fans and radio programmers. After the completion of their accompanying

Wheels Up Tour The Wheels Up Tour was the fourth headlining tour by American country music trio, Lady Antebellum. The tour was in support of their sixth studio album, '' 747'' (2014) that began on February 28, 2015, in Oslo, Norway, and concluded on October 3, ...

, the group announced a short hiatus from recording or touring. During this time, the members all worked on individual projects –

Charles Kelley Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records. Early life and career Kelle ...

and

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records ...

on their solo debuts ''

The Driver ''The Driver'' is a 1978 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill. It stars Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. O'Neal is the getaway driver for robberies whose exceptional talent has prevented him be ...

'' and '' Love Remains'', respectively, and

Dave Haywood David Wesley Haywood (born July 5, 1982) is an American country musician and songwriter. He is one-third of the American country music band Lady A, in which he plays guitar, piano and mandolin, and sings backing vocals. Early life Haywood's fat ...

on the production of Post Monroe's debut EP. When the group returned to work on their next album, they spent a month in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and recruited pop producer busbee to oversee the project. "You Look Good" was reportedly on hold for

Thomas Rhett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

before being picked up and recorded by Lady Antebellum. The song was released January 19, 2017. "You Look Good" serves as the group's first new release since 2014 following their hiatus.

Composition

"You Look Good" is primarily a

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

song with influences of funk,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

. The song incorporates a "brassy"

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

section, a career first for the group. Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' noted that "You Look Good" is the group's third consecutive lead single to " tretchthe perception of who they are."

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

'' praised the energy of the song, writing, "any time Hillary Scott can match harles Kelley'seasy swagger they look — and sound — good. In fact, Lady Antebellum rarely loses when the two vocalists are committed to the same vocal emotion." David Watt of All Noise wrote that "You Look Good" is "a good song with a... fresh sound and it has proved the claims... made by the band about their... esireto innovate."

Commercial performance

"You Look Good" debuted at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart dated February 4, 2017 as the week's "hot shot debut." It also debuted at number 41 on the magazine's Hot Country Songs chart dated February 4, 2017. The song sold 4,000 copies in its first day of availability. After Lady Antebellum's performance at the ACM Awards, the song sold 41,000 copies, up 320% from the week before. It has sold 408,000 copies in the US as of September 2017.

Music video

The group released an official lyric video to accompany the song on January 19, 2017. Chronicling the months spent working on ''Heart Break'', the video includes Polaroid photos and video footage of this time period and shows Charles, Hillary, and Dave "goofing off." The video ends with a clip of the group from 2006 before the release of their debut because, as Haywood told ''Billboard'', they "wanted to get back that feeling we felt back in 2006 when we started" during the recording process of this album. An official music video was released in June 2017. Directed by Shane Drake, it was filmed back-to-back with the video for their next single, "Heart Break" on location in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The same lead actress and actor from this video star in the next video. This one shows the group performing the song in a sweaty nightclub full of locals, ending with a "To Be Continued..." moniker.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Lady Antebellum 2017 songs 2017 singles Lady A songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs written by busbee Songs written by Ryan Hurd Songs written by Hillary Lindsey Song recordings produced by busbee