Josh Ross Looks to Flip ‘Hate’ Into a Hit With His Newest Single: ‘It’s Nothing Like Clickbait’

When Josh Ross peaked astatine No. 2 with “Single Again” connected Billboard’s Country Airplay illustration dated July 26, it marked his archetypal quality successful the apical 5.

Now he’s backmost with a single, again, and the lyric finds his quality single. Again.

And it comes with a title, “Hate How You Look,” that appears to beryllium thing it’s not. It’s benignant of similar an online header that entices radical to work the story, lone to find retired the contents aren’t rather what the rubric suggested. Ross bristles astatine the comparison.

“It’s thing similar clickbait,” Ross says. “That does not work.”

True that. Clickbait annoys readers erstwhile it’s wide they’ve been duped. But with “Hate The Way You Look,” the “dupe” is the full point, and the listener is apt to admit it erstwhile it’s obvious.

“You wonder,” Ross says, “is it really conscionable going to beryllium a mean song? Like, ‘I conscionable hatred however you look.’ And past you perceive to it, you recognize that it’s a feline that’s like, ‘Dang, she looks good,’ and you’re really benignant of complimenting her. I’m a instrumentality of titles similar that.”

The rubric comes compliments of songwriter Christian Yancey, who brought it to an assignment astatine Nashville’s Combustion Music with Nick Sainato, Chris McKenna and Jessica Farren successful February 2024. “Hate How You Look” was intriguing – “It’s benignant of an abrasive title,” Farren notes – but it was besides a rubric that mightiness marque a user click “Play” erstwhile it appeared connected a Spotify screen.

“Especially with the Nashville flip,” Farren says, “it’s like, however tin the rubric marque you deliberation thing erstwhile you spot it that is wholly the other of what it means? And we were like, ‘Oh, that feels similar money.’”

Sainato developed a rock-leaning guitar inheritance that seemed appropriate, past brought the full league to a little halt erstwhile helium choked connected Sour Patch candies.

“I was sweating truthful bad,” Sainato recalls. “I texted my woman immediately” ‘I virtually astir choked!’ And past we went and wrote the remainder of the song.”

They focused initially connected the chorus, starting astir of the lines with the connection “hate” to necktie successful with the “I hatred however you look moving on” hook. The archetypal enactment was a doozy: “Hate however you look successful that one, that you cognize I emotion reddish dress.” Even speechmaking the lyric sheet, it’s arguably confusing.

“My favourite songs person lines similar that,” McKenna says. “Like, ‘What did helium conscionable say?’ Or, ‘Why did helium accidental it that way?’ I deliberation that’s benignant of 1 of those lines. It astir doesn’t dependable similar cleanable English.”

Perfect punctuation helps. The lyric makes much consciousness if it’s presented, “Hate however you look successful that one-that-you-know-I-love reddish dress.” It’s a mouthful to sing, but the words each acceptable sonically with the phrasing, which matters much than however it looks connected a screen.

“We’re each benignant of syllable Nazis,” Farren quips, “like, making definite the words acceptable that perfectly and not compromising.”

They constructed a relentlessly melodic chorus, each operation built with a bid of singable, stair-step notes. “I’m not truly a large singer,” Sainato says. “So whenever you get to a chorus and I tin sing it, I’m like, ‘That’s something. This feels similar thing real.’”

In the mediate of that chorus, the melody took a abbreviated breather, and...