"Ain't the Same" is a song recorded by Canadian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

artist

Brett Kissel Brett Kissel (born May 27, 1990) is a Canadian country singer. He has had four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with " Airwaves", " Drink About Me", "A Few Good Stories", and " Make a Life, Not a Living". Early life Kissel was born ...

featuring American pop vocal group

98 Degrees 98 Degrees (stylized as 98°) is an American pop and R&B vocal group consisting of four vocalists: the group's founding member Jeff Timmons, brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, and Justin Jeffre. The group was formed by Timmons in Los Angeles, Cali ...

. Kissel wrote the song with Karen Kosowski and

Tim Nichols Tim Nichols (born in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since the late 1980s, Nichols has written for several country music singers, including Keith Whitley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messina, ...

, while Kosowski produced the track. It was the lead single off Kissel's 2023 studio album '' The Compass Project – South Album''.

Background

Kissel and his co-writers wrote the song with inspiration stemming from the idea of "how much sweeter everything is when we get to experience life's gifts with the people we cherish most". Kissel cited his relationship with his wife Cecilia as his personal inspiration. He initially did not intend for it to be a collaboration, before he laid down vocals on the demo and realized the potential of the song. Kissel's manager Jim Cressman had been friends for a long time with

Jeff Timmons Jeffrey Brandon Timmons (born April 30, 1973) is an American pop singer, songwriter and producer and founding member of the Grammy-nominated pop group 98 Degrees. Career Rise of 98 Degrees Timmons was the founding member of 98 Degrees. While s ...

, and knew that the band was initially looking to make a

album so he sent them "Ain't the Same" to gauge their interest in recording it. At this point, the band had abandoned their plans for a full album, but were nonetheless interested in the song and asked Cressman if Kissel was interested in joining them on the track. Kissel immediately approved of the collaboration, and 98 Degrees recorded their parts within several days from a studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Critical reception

Bethany Bowman of the '' Tennessee Star'' stated that the song "offers a unique blend of pop and modern country, highlighting Kissel’s warm, rich vocals and paired with the infectious harmonies of 98 Degrees," adding that it was "sure to entice listeners of all genres and from all age groups". Michael Major of ''Broadway World'' described the song as a "unique blend of pop and modern country," saying it puts "a fresh, lighthearted spin on the concept of finding one's perfect match". Markos Papadatos of ''Digital Journal'' called the track an "upbeat song" with a "clever chorus that parallels the narrator’s relationship and famous pairings that just aren’t quite right when not together".

Commercial performance

"Ain't the Same" peaked at number 33 on the ''Billboard''

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart for the week of September 3, 2022, marking the lowest peak of Kissel's career to-date. It also peaked at number 31 on the

Canadian Digital Song Sales The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

for the week of May 7, 2022, after the song's initial release.

Live performance

Kissel performed "Ain't the Same" live on

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

's ''

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...

'' program in Canada in June 2022. Kissel and 98 Degrees performed the song together at

2022 Canadian Country Music Awards The 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards, honouring achievements in Canadian country music, were presented on September 11, 2022 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, and broadcast by the Global Television Network. The ceremony was host ...

from the

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

on September 11, 2022. The show was broadcast live on

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

in Canada, while a video of their performance was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on September 20, 2022.

Music video

The official music video for "Ain't the Same" was directed by Aaron Huisman and premiered on April 30, 2022. It features the members of

showing the tourist

around

. At one point, Kissel uses

FaceTime FaceTime is a Proprietary software, proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS devic ...

to speak to his wife and children, with his family later surprising him at a show in Los Angeles. Kissel remarked that he was surprised at the amount of

paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

that was surrounding 98 Degrees at the video shoot.

Charts

References

{{authority control 2022 songs 2022 singles Brett Kissel songs 98 Degrees songs Country ballads Songs written by Brett Kissel Songs written by Tim Nichols Songs written by Karen Kosowski