Randy Houser’s latest single “We Went” hit radio this week with 22 first-week adds for a total of 29, according to Mediabase. Written by Justin Wilson, Matt Rogers, and John King, “We Went” follows the success of “How Country Feels” and “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight,” which hit #1 at radio, and “Goodnight Kiss” and “Like A Cowboy” which hit #2 and #3 respectively.
The song retains Houser’s signature sound – heavy drums, soaring electric guitars, and production that flawlessly builds with the song and cuts out for effect at just the right moments. Houser tends to do a decent amount of his own writing – How Country Feels charted four singles in the top 5 for the artist, two of which (“How Country Feels” and “Goodnight Kiss”) Houser had a hand in writing. And much like his sonic compadre and Broken Bow labelmate Jason Aldean, Houser and team seem to have a good ear for what outside songs will be a good fit for the artist.
“We Went,” however, seems to slightly miss the mark. That’s not to say it couldn’t be another #1 for the artist – it’s hook-y in the right places and doesn’t deviate strikingly from Houser’s sound. But the choruses feel rather sleepy, as the vocals are sung at half the speed of the verses, which confuses when the dynamic hook gives way to a chorus that’s more uptempo. Maybe it’d work if the lyrics of the hook had more to offer, . “We went tail lights fadin’ / from some blue lights chasin’ / cut a path through the corn off county road 44,” Houser sings, which, after a radio climate favoring songs from “Rain Is A Good Thing” to “Cop Car,” and bad-boy back-road playbooks written by Aldean and Florida Georgia Line, feels more tired as an image than expressive.
Yes, it could be argued that uptempo hits like “How Country Feels” and “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” have similar traits. But both of those are expertly constructed and pristinely polished, while “We Went” doesn’t mirror their undeniable hooks nor deviate in an engagingly different enough way.