"You Look Good" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group Lady Antebellum 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 ...

'' (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 Music Corporation of America. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records. While under the ...

and impacted American country radio on January 23. The song was written by Hillary Lindsey, Ryan Hurd, and its producer,

busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He was known for his work in both pop mus ...

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 group announced a short hiatus from recording or touring. During this time, the members all worked on individual projects – Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott on their solo debuts ''

The Driver ''The Driver'' is a 1978 American crime film, crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill, and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani. The film featured only unnamed characters, and follows a getaway driver for robberi ...

'' and '' Love Remains'', respectively, and Dave Haywood 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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and recruited pop producer

to oversee the project. "You Look Good" was reportedly on hold for

Thomas Rhett Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. (born March 30, 1990) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins. Rhett has released seven studio albums for Big Machine Records' Valory Music imprint: ''It Goes ...

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 urban cowboy or even urban country) 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 g ...

song with influences of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. The song incorporates a "brassy"

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

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 wit ...

'' 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 Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

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 Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

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