"Leave Right Now" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

singer

Thomas Rhett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

for his third studio album, '' Life Changes'' (2017). Inspired by trends in modern

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

, Rhett co-wrote the track with Edward Drewett, John Henry Ryan, and his co-producer, Julian Bunetta. An

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

featuring various

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of the song was released April 13, 2018 through the

Valory Music Group Ross Lamont Valory (born February 2, 1949) is an American musician who is best known as the original bass player for the rock band Journey (band), Journey from 1973 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2020. Valory was inducted into the Rock and Roll H ...

. "Leave Right Now" serves as the fifth

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

for the album. "Leave Right Now" has peaked at number 38 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Background and recording

"Leave Right Now" was written 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' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and was originally intended as an acoustic

song. Rhett drew inspiration from electronic dance music, particularly the songs of

The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM- pop duo achieved a breakthrough with the ...

, and proposed adding a

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after the chorus. He told media outlets when discussing the album's recording that he "never in a million years" expected the song to make it on the record as is because of its "progressive" sound, which he worried might be jarring to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

fans. In April 2018, Valory Music Group commissioned a set of remixes for the song to serve as a promotional single, concurrent with the radio release of "Life Changes". The resulting extended play includes the original album version, a shortened

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

, an EDM remix from Danish DJ Martin Jensen, and a stripped-down "Nashville mix."

Composition

"Leave Right Now" combines influences of pop and electronic dance music, including a post-chorus drop, with honest, wistful lyrics and a more traditionally country narrative. Lyrically, the song revolves around a guy meeting a romantic interest at a party and suggesting that they leave early and get to know each other better in private. The song begins with acoustic guitar chords, which give way to slick electronic beats later on.

Critical reception

The staff of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' praised Rhett's willingness to take a risk on the song, writing, that the song "push sthe boundaries of country music further than" most artists. Markos Papadatos of ''Digital Journal'' described the song as "addicting" in a complimentary album review. Georgia Davis of ''The Post'' gave a more mixed review of the song, writing that it is "lyrically a treat," but that its sound feels out of place on the album.

Commercial performance

Following the release of ''Life Changes'', "Leave Right Now" entered the

chart dated September 30, 2017 at number 38.

Music video

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'' reported that an accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

is being filmed for the song sometime in the spring of 2018. A statement from Rhett states that the video intends to "

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

around with the energy of the song" by speeding up and slowing down various scenes in time with the music for emphasis. Directed by Justin Clough and filmed at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, the video premiered May 23, 2018. The video uses the audio of the Martin Jensen remix.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2018 singles Thomas Rhett songs Big Machine Records singles Songs written by Thomas Rhett Songs written by Julian Bunetta Song recordings produced by Julian Bunetta Songs written by Ed Drewett Songs written by John Ryan (musician)