And they’ve still not changed their band name…
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[6.12]
Thomas Inskeep: The smartest move Lady A has made in some time, “You Look Good” is a 180-degree turn from the trio, soaked with a horn section and some pretty soulful production courtesy of Maren Morris’s partner in crime, busbee. He also co-wrote this with Hillary Lindsey and, whaddaya know, Morris’s partner in life, Ryan Hurd (“Lonely Tonight”), so it doesn’t even sound like what’s come before for Lady A lyrically, either. It’s an ode to a sexy person, and it’s playful and sly and even a little sexy too, what with Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley trading lines about said sexy people. busbee was clearly the injection Lady Antebellum needed right about now, and based on “You Look Good,” the treatment was a success, because this is a shit-hot single.
[9]
Katie Gill: A cocky anthem with a funky twist and a ridiculous amount of swagger. Lady Antebellum wisely splits up the objectification between their two lead singers, creating a fun interplay that trades typical rural platitudes for a more slick and urban picture (skylights and penthouses instead of fields and dirt roads). I’m a sucker for a good brass bit, and “You Look Good” deploys it perfectly. “You Look Good,” but you sound amazing.
[9]
Alfred Soto: The wondrous “Need You Now” and love-drunk “Bartender” aside, Lady Antebellum can’t record a single without mushing it or rocking it with an abandon as predictable as an unbuttoned collar. “You Look Good” is peppy, and we know it because the band puts the drums front and center, the horns spit on your neck, and Charles Kelley shouts twaddle about black jeans. I’m going to hedge: it may sound less contorted on the radio.
[6]
Anthony Easton: The harmonies are still there, but they don’t really serve any point, and the spoken codas provide a kind of false friendliness. It’s not even skilled enough to be interesting hack work.
[2]
Katherine St Asaph: Good enough, but fusty; I would have believed you if you told me this was a Voice results-show duet for Christina Aguilera and whoever this season’s Southern rocker is.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: Lady Antebellum have always had an edge of corniness that when indulged (see: “Freestyle”) can make them unbearable. Their dynamic feels like a gaggle of friends who are so wrapped up in their own fun that you want to be 100 miles away from them, and have jokes that for anyone on the outside reek like stale bananas. THOSE HORNS are so atrocious, but Lady A have clearly convinced themselves it’s a good idea. And the whole song is clearly a bunch of goofs having a good time, but their fun isn’t infectious as much as eye-rolly.
[5]
Tim de Reuse: About 75% chorus by weight; a chorus that was presumably slowly tweaked and sanded down over the course of months to be harmless, substanceless and catchy. It deftly sidesteps the myriad possible awkward metaphors I was expecting to hear the instant I heard that old straining gruff-but-not-gruff tone in the guy’s voice on the first verse, and I can’t dislike the line “Like cameras in Hollywood / Baby, you look good.” Unfortunately, I can easily dislike everything that isn’t in the refrain — flat and messy, like they only realized they’d forgotten every other part of the song after they’d already booked the studio time.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: As in writing, “you look good” is a dead fish when sung. Only the sassiest could draw out the word the playful or besotted way it might be spoken in those circumstances, and in the realm of noble failures, this chorus isn’t as good as that of the last song that tried it on. But this one has enough swagger and funk to float.
[7]