Pretty Little Liars actress turned country newcomer Lucy Hale cites Shania Twain and Martina McBride as major musical influences, and to a degree it’s perceptible on her debut single “You Sound Good to Me.” The track begins with a light, airy fiddle hook, and segues into an effervescent uptempo pop-country love song with an atypically sparse production arrangement by country radio standards (murky background vocals aside).
Unfortunately, things go very wrong in one important area – the vocal. Hale’s performance sound constantly strained and often pitch-challenged as she struggles to reach high notes and keep up with the brisk tempo. Worse yet, Hale’s voice rings generic and faceless, lacking any hint of distinctive personality or flair and instead sounding like that of any random karaoke bar patron.
It doesn’t help that the song itself is hardly anything special – standard Music Row radio filler courtesy of three of the industry’s current favorite hired-gun songwriters. There’s none of the distinctive cleverness, spunk or massive pop hooks that marked the best work of Hale’s role models. If such a song is going to work on any level at all, it needs a strong vocal performance to carry it. Without that crucial element, “You Sound Good to Me” quickly sinks like a stone.
Written by Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey
Grade: C-
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHz9qFCZOvs&list=PL1hdtH2WAGAyA74JjXkpwimtbkC5ORCFf&feature=share
I truly believe you missed a glorious oppurtunity to make a hilarious title pun.
I was consciously resisting the pun urge while writing the review, but I finally broke down when I shared the post on Facebook and Twitter.
“You Sound……….Insufferable To Me? Well, I Wouldn’t Go THAT Far……But Let’s Just Say You’re ‘Quite Likely Leaving Me Wanting To Change The Station’ To Me!” ;)
…jason aldean paid tribute in a song to joe diffie lately, but miss hale ain’t thinking of whisperin’ bill anderson here, is she?
The refrain sounds a bit like Carrie Underwood’s “Get Out of this Town” I maybe stretching but sorry, I heard it.