Hayes has been releasing music differently recently. Instead of releasing one single to iTunes and country radio, and then following it up with a full length studio album, Hayes has decided to release his music digitally. His first single "21" was released to Spotify first, and then to radio and iTunes. The follow up "Where It All Begins," featuring tour mates Lady Antebellum was released to Spotify and then eventually iTunes, as was this one.
This track, "Young And In Love," and Hayes' third consecutive single release, sounds triumphant, and is in some ways. But the underlying message is that being in love, and being young on top of that is so hard. Hayes touches on the topic that when you're young, you have to find out who you are. Sometimes, that means leaving someone you love behind. So this song is triumphant in that at least for a little while, when they were able to make it work, until Hayes decided that it was too hard for him to be apart from his girlfriend. So he ended it. Despite the somewhat overdone production, underneath, this is the most personal Hayes has ever gone. He's telling his story, of being on the road and being an artist, but still having to juggle an endlessly complicated personal life. One could draw parallels from this song to Ed Sheeran's latest album. Sheeran, over the album in different tracks, tells the girl he loves that she shouldn't love him because he's always away (Nina), but also that sometimes it does end up working (Photograph). Hayes does that here, but his story ends a little sadder than Sheeran's did. The bridge emphasizes that with the lyrics:
"Now I can see/The mess that I made/What you mean to me/Oh but I'll make it up/Get down on my knees/And I'll do anything to get back what we used to be/Young and in love."
This is what country music is about. Telling a story that connects with all people. If people could get past the pretty boy persona of Hayes and the pop sheen, they would discover that this song and his music has a lot more depth than it puts off. Whether this will be part of a soon-to-be-released EP, or whether it will just stand on its own, that will be fine. This is Hunter Hayes at his best.
OVERALL RATING: 4 and a half crowns
"Now I can see/The mess that I made/What you mean to me/Oh but I'll make it up/Get down on my knees/And I'll do anything to get back what we used to be/Young and in love."
This is what country music is about. Telling a story that connects with all people. If people could get past the pretty boy persona of Hayes and the pop sheen, they would discover that this song and his music has a lot more depth than it puts off. Whether this will be part of a soon-to-be-released EP, or whether it will just stand on its own, that will be fine. This is Hunter Hayes at his best.
OVERALL RATING: 4 and a half crowns
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