BRETT YOUNG - Kiss To Forget - Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment

Layering the path of anticipation towards his next chapter with “Say Less” and “Goodnight Into Good Morning,” country superstar Brett Young has used the second half of 2024 to continue crooning his way into the heartbeat of the romantics, speaking softly to their souls with sentimental touches.

He stays within the confines of the serenade like feel that we’ve come to expect from him on his newest effort, “Kiss To Forget,” though deviating away from the aura of two hearts being completely in sync with one another to grip instead the harsh realities of unsuccessfully moving on to someone new once you’ve been shattered.

Co-written by Young, Ashley Gorley, Jon Nite, and Jimmy Robbins, there’s a welling up of guilt embracing the ebbs and flows of his vocal as he weaves the emotional battle of knowing that the new girl in front of him is a perfect fit, the everything he needs, while struggling with the hidden truth that he’s only going to break her heart because he can’t let go of what used to be.

Running a list of attributes in the opening verse that highlight why she’s so perfect for him, she knows all his favorite songs, she carries an innocence that could drive anyone wild, etc., the anxiety fracturing his bruised and broken heart sees him later admitting to himself that he knows he’s only wasting her time and that he’s a fool for not allowing himself to fall into her.

Knowing that she deserves so much better than what he can give to her, a remorse-ridden waver sees him in full acknowledgement mode as he leans into the truthfulness of the chorus:

“She’s just somebody who can’t be you

She’s got it all, but she ain’t got a clue

When she’s in my arms it’s you in my head

Cause you’re still the lips I’m remembering

She’s just a kiss to forget”

With a heartache cry through the bridge, a quiver of painful strife sees him reaching a breaking point with the emotional ask, “If you were wrong, tell me why I can’t get you off my mind,” leading to his broken confession that he misses the way she loved him.

When it comes to the current era of country music, there’s no artist who can consistently move through every facet of love the way that Brett Young can. Whether it’s the falling for her aspect or the turmoil of heartbreak, his natural soulfulness encompasses the proper emotional valleys to strongly tug the heartstrings of the listener.

If these last three songs, now including “Kiss To Forget,” are the spotlight indication of where this next chapter is heading, then expect Brett Young to continue holding tightly to his distinctive tag as country music’s love swooned aficionado.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis/Artwork c/o Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment)