The Singles Jukebox

Did you really not put the girl in your Contacts list, Lukey?

[Video][Website]
[4.25]

Iain Mew: I love the way every line gets its own guitar reply, in a steady progression from the initial hesitant jangle-dadudum, through the growing confidence of jangwaah, past djedja[dramatic pause]jangle, all the way to full on gwooooawwwww. I find myself filtering out the rest of the song to get the full effect, and it’s an enjoyable experience.
[6]

Alfred Soto: Country will never tire of songs about resisting the temptation to drunk dial, and “One Number Away” is one of the sturdier recent entries. While the guitars twang, Luke Combs lets the resentment show. It’s not his fault that I wish it were a song about responding to a drunk dial. 
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: The verses were already ridiculous in how they applied late-night acoustic melancholy to Googling John Mayer lyrics, but they still create a mood — a mood promptly interrupted by the same fucking Southern rock chorus, literally crashing in, the sonic equivalent of an unsolicited dick pic.
[2]

Scott Mildenhall: When he says “number”, does he mean individual digit or entire phone number? If the former, what kind of old-time phone is he using that requires the whole number being dialed in? Or has he just deleted their number but memorised it? Can you memorise a number when it’s predominantly metaphorical? Does anybody “call to” people rather than just call them, apart from when they want a lyric to flow? So many questions, so little to not be diverted by them.
[5]

Ryo Miyauchi: More than yet another phone number becoming some sentimental magnet for the recently heartbroken, what draws attention here is Luke Combs’ method to “drown out the noise.” He tries to get rid of all the memories: movies, singles, radio stations. He eventually pulls up the dial screen, as all songs of this nature eventually do, but at least the sulking is somewhat relatable before it gets there.
[4]

Will Adams: The change-a-word is a common trope in country in order to create a more distinct title — see, he’s one number away, not one call away, which is how you know this is clever writing! But there’s no follow through in the rest of the lyric to justify it, so it becomes a song that isn’t about a dude who wants to call his ex late at night but instead about a dude who can’t remember what the last digit in her phone number is.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: Really, it’s only one producer away from being a Nickelback song, and not one of the good ones.
[4]

Stephen Eisermann: Calling an ex is a common theme in country music, but this is one of the more disappointing implementations of this theme. The musical arrangemen starts of fun interesting enough until it goes full MOR, pop-country in the chorus instead of the angrier southern bluesy rock that this song needs. Plus, Luke Combs just doesn’t have all that interesting of a voice. It’s all build-up without a pay-off and nobody likes being teased unless they get eventual gratification.
[4]