The Singles Jukebox

Long stretch without a tune as good as “Need You Now.”

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[4.67]

Iain Mew: Basically Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” without the best and most iconic bit of “The Chain”. Or, in fact, there is a bit where a guitar wails like a Formula One car at full revs, but crucially there isn’t the silence or bass solo to build up to it. It’s indicative of what they get wrong throughout the song: all climax, no tension.
[4]

Alfred Soto: “Consistent Stretch of Blah” more like. For every “Downtown” or “Need You Now” Lady A have released a “We Owned the Night” and now this, a banjo stomper with too bright a mix board sheen.
[4]

Thomas Inskeep: This is of a piece with Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”: not just in its overall feel, but its guitar solo could be mistaken for Buckingham, and there’s even the line “I don’t ever wanna break this chain.” Coming off more uptempo and aggressive than they’re accustomed to works well for Lady A.
[7]

Jessica Doyle: A supposed celebration of passionate love that sounds exhausted and uninspired;  “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” was better thought through. Which is not to imply I needed it back in my head. 
[3]

Will Adams: Producer Nathan Chapman — who’s most known for his frequent work with Taylor Swift — calls in the big guns, but Lady Antebellum don’t. For every interesting choice, like the quick musical breaths at the ends of phrases, there’s a clunker like “You’re the blessing and the curse.”
[4]

Edward Okulicz: The song itself has almost nothing distinctive (or at least nothing distinctively its own) going for it, so the credit and blame falls on Hillary Scott who more or less can sell anything, and producer Nathan Chapman, who can more or less sell anyone. The chorus has the impact of a very forceful slap — it’s quite a wallop but it doesn’t do any lasting damage.
[6]