Kane Brown Drops Pure-Country Heartbreak Ballad, ‘Whiskey Sour’

Although Kane Brown is one of the many stars pushing the sound of country forward, the emerging superstar is also deeply enthralled with the genre’s old-school — and his latest track is a blast from the past.

Releasing “Whiskey Sour” today (January 14), Brown puts his stamp on a classic country heartbreak ballad for the modern era. Lonely and reflective, and delivered with a stunning emotional ache, it’s about as traditional as country gets — all about a guy who’s lost his girl, and a big chunk of himself.

Co-written by Jaxson Free, Josh Hoge, and Adam Craig, and co-produced by Brown for the first time in his career (along side Ilya Toshinskiy), the track finds Brown alone with his thoughts … and the cocktail he and his ex used to share together. It’s the only thing left from a relationship that seemed all too easy for her to discard, but has now opened up a hole in Brown’s soul.

With Brown’s baritone vocal dialed down in defeated agony, somber fiddle melodies, quiet acoustic guitar strumming and little else, it’s an example of Brown’s love for trad country even as he continues releasing pop, R&B and hip hop collaborations like “Blessed & Free” (with H.E.R.), “Memory” (with blackbear) and many more.

“So now I take my whiskey sour / Sitting barside after hours / Thinking how can I get over if the love was never ours? / Hell, I know you got my message / All my Xs and my Os / And it kills me by the hour / Now I take my whiskey sours alone,” goes the heart-wrenching country chorus.

In the weeks leading to its release, Brown teased “Whiskey Sour” on social media, and it now arrives as his current single, “One Mississippi,” rises into the Top 10 at country radio. Brown is about to resume his arena-packing Blessed & Free Tour, and just before the new year, he and wife Katelyn welcomed their second child — after successful keeping the entire pregnancy private.