Little Big Town – “Kiss Goodbye”
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Steve McEwan, Gordie Sampson
Country quartet Little Big Town came galloping back onto the airwaves earlier this year with “Little White Church” – a rollicking, sassy, bluegrassy lead-off single from their fourth studio album, The Reason Why. Right in their wheelhouse, the vibrant song re-established the group as a vocal force of nature, once again earning their place on radio playlists.
They say timing is everything, and momentum has now shifted some (albeit a deliberate effort to mix up their dynamics) with the release of their second song to radio, the introspective ballad, “Kiss Goodbye.” Long time collaborator, producer Wayne Kirkpatrick, sets the initial haunting tone with an icy and isolated triad of piano chords, but band member Phillip Sweet takes it from there, delivering verses with quiet warmth, slowly winding up for the earth-rattling, four-part harmonies that hit hard in the chorus.
There isn’t a hint of country stylings anywhere on this recording – it’s unapologetically pop all the way. The simple lyric with a focused message about letting go with love might not be the visually video-ready kind that prevails in country music, but is head-nodding real and relatable all the same: “When you lose someone/The first thing that goes through your head/Is if you run fast enough/You just might catch up/But it don’t work like that.”
Unavoidable comparisons to labelmate Lady Antebellum’s current single “Hello World” show interesting parallels between the two songs: both ballads are co-written by Music Row A-listers and not by the artists themselves, which is often the case with LBT and Lady A; both have piano-driven, pop-leaning melodies, knee-deep in weighty lyrics; both recordings have vocals with a less-often-heard male lead. The biggest difference may be that Lady A’s single comes from an album that’s pop-music thick, whereas “Kiss Goodbye” is the lone pop tune out of 12 cuts on the LBT CD. Sweet said this about their new single: “I feel like this one takes us to a new place.” He was only referring to the lyric’s theme of unselfish love, but one could easily think he meant that this song represents new straight-up pop territory for the foursome, which it does.
For now, at least, LBT still has a steady foothold in the country realm, but they aren’t the first, or the last country group to cross over. They’re in good company at the moment with Sugarland and Rascal Flatts, as well as Lady A. Traditionalists will wince while country music continues to evolve. Although this ballad brings their energy level down momentarily, it’s the gutsy change-up pitch in their repertoire of solid countrified performances found on their latest album.
Listen: Little Big Town – “Kiss Goodbye”
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October 28, 2010 at 11:02 am
So why review and rate a pop song on a country blog?
October 28, 2010 at 11:04 am
Even though I do at times exhibit traditionalist tendencies, I still love this single. It may be pop (and may even have some crossover potential), but it’s still a great performance, and I have to give LBT credit for shaking up their catalog a bit.
October 28, 2010 at 11:07 am
“So why review and rate a pop song on a country blog?”
Because it’s marketed as country, it is being released to country radio, and is performed by an act that is primarily a country group. With those factors in mind, this song qualifies as country, and there’s really no need to quibble over whether or not it SOUNDS country. And let’s be realistic – most modern “country” songs don’t.
October 28, 2010 at 11:27 am
So why review and rate a pop song on a country blog?
Like Ben said, the single is marketed as a country single is from a band that’s NEVER released anything officially outside of country music. It’s not yesterday’s country music but in today’s world, this is still a country song, pop production choices non-withstanding.
October 28, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Since when are Rascall Flatts and Sugarland considered “good company”?
October 28, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Since they both released good singles this fall.
October 28, 2010 at 1:04 pm
…unfortunately, this is a teflon song. it just won’t stick with me.
October 28, 2010 at 3:17 pm
I think this a great single choice from a fantastic album. =)
October 28, 2010 at 3:33 pm
RAZOR X,
Great point.
October 28, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Even if a song isn’t country in any way, if it’s marketed as country, it deserves to be reviewed on a country blog, for better or worse.
October 28, 2010 at 6:10 pm
LEEANN,
So if a hard rap song came out and was labeled as country that qualifies? One can label a song anything.
I understand that there cannot be aN all-knowing guru that is appointed to judge songs by how they sound and with the magic wand deem them fit for country (although I am sure Jon would think himself to be the best qualified for the guru’s position).
But come on, we need to have something more than how a song is labeled I would think. I understand the utter subjectivity in all this, but are there no guidelines anymore?
RAZOR X,
Still a good point.
October 28, 2010 at 6:49 pm
This song is Lady Antebellum Ultra-Lite. The lead singer even sounds like he’s trying to mimic Charles Kelley! Unfortunately for LBT this isn’t a quarter of the song “Need You Now” was. The chorus is catchy and strong with over the top production values which work well on AirHead Country radio, but I’m not sure the rest of the song can interest the ADHD types. If this song came on the radio I wouldn’t change the station, but I wouldn’t turn up the volume either.
October 28, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Waynoe,
I think it would qualify for a review, albeit a negative one.
October 28, 2010 at 9:41 pm
“Unavoidable comparisons to labelmate Lady Antebellum’s current single “Hello World” show interesting parallels between the two songs: both ballads are co-written by Music Row A-listers and not by the artists themselves, which is often the case with LBT and Lady A…”
That’s not entirely accurate – only 5 of Lady A’s 20+ released songs are outside cuts, for better or for worse. LBT has also traditionally written more of their songs than they’ve taken outside cuts, although their new CD is about half and half.
Hilary Lindsey has been a very common choice for both bands when they do choose outside songs though.
October 29, 2010 at 7:57 am
LEEANN,
No arguement there. I do like LBT but regret to see them embrace this song. Oh well, it’s the trend right now.
November 4, 2010 at 2:49 pm
They should’ve went with Shut Up Train instead. Releasing this one will kill all the momentum they scored with Little White Church.
November 10, 2010 at 8:31 am
Has this single been pulled from radio already? It seems to be going nowhere on the charts. I only heard it on the radio once.
November 10, 2010 at 9:30 am
For Tim: It has entered the charts at #54, gaining the Hot Shot Debut as well.
December 1, 2010 at 3:19 pm
This song is going nowhere on the charts. It’s time to pull it and release The Reason Why or Shut Up Train instead.
December 11, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I was hoping this song would gain a hold on radio. Doesn’t look that way though. in reality, I’m okay with that. I love Little Big Town and this single just doesn’t cut it on the radio. It IS, however, an incredibly lovely song when done live. I was at a concert a little while ago, and it sounded like it could be a hit single. really, quite beautifully done. sounded much better than Lady Antebellum stuff, which is too often “nice enough” but not packing a punch (obviously there are exceptions). Went back and listened to the album version…didn’t quite have the oomph.
I really don’t have a problem with country artists throwing in a pop-ish song every once in a while. It’s their album, they can do what they want. that’s why there’s a skip button. I personally like to see people mix it up every so often.