Justin Moore Talks Boozy New Song: Ram Report
When Justin Moore first heard the title to his new single “You Look Like I Need a Drink,” he instantly thought of country’s preeminent boozer.
“It sounds like something Blake Shelton would say to somebody in a bar,” Moore says of the song, written by Rodney Clawson, Matt Dragstrem and Natalie Hemby. “I listened to it, and it was completely different than what I had anticipated. I love songs like that, where you read the title, you see the title, and you have to listen to the song. It piques your interest that much. This song did that to me.”
The first taste of Moore’s fourth album, the follow-up to 2013’s Off the Beaten Path, “You Look Like I Need a Drink” mixes the Arkansas native’s natural twang with the polish of today’s radio country. As such, it could be a likely addition to Moore’s quiet roster of hits. He has one of the genre’s most consistent track records, from his first Number One “Small Town USA” in 2009 to 2013’s “Lettin’ the Night Roll.”
Moore says he’s about halfway finished with his next album and is plotting an early to mid-summer release. He’s confident that “You Look Like I Need a Drink” is a solid introduction to his next LP, and a way to marry his appreciation for traditional country with a contemporary sound.
“It’s the first single for the new album, and the reason we chose it is we haven’t had an uptempo song out on the radio in a little while. We needed something fun and rocking, and thankfully it’s doing well for us,” he says. “The most difficult thing when I’m making an album is trying to figure out how to straddle that fence, of doing what it is that got me here for the core audience, but also grow the music.”