Good Thing is the second studio album by American singer Leon Bridges. It was released on May 4, 2018, by Columbia Records. The album was supported by three singles: "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand", "Bad Bad News" and "Beyond". Good Thing received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Its single "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand" won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Singles
The album's singles, "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand" and "Bad Bad News" was released for digital download on March 13, 2018. "Bet Ain't Worth the Hand" was later sent to urban contemporary radio on April 10, 2018. The album's third single, "Beyond", was released on April 20, 2018, it was later sent to urban contemporary radio on April 30, 2018.
Critical reception
Good Thing was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 17 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.9 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 71 out of 100, based on 18 reviews. Chris Willman of Variety gave the album a positive review stating, "The new album is not that drastically less of a classicist affair than Coming Home, when all is said and done, but this time it's a whole variety pack of retro." Luke Fox of Exclaim! wrote: "Leon Bridges' sophomore record rings as an endorsement of his range. And that's a great thing for Good Thing, which tempers its pop-radio ambitions with unique bends on the age-old love song in this super-tight, 35-minute ride." Tara Joshi of The Guardian said, "Bridges doesn't entirely leave behind his old-school roots, but, while Good Thing is hardly the next Blonde or, indeed, 24K Magic, it leaves you with a greater sense of who he is: loved-up, and striving for a level of ambition that feels within reach." Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Olivia Horn said that "On Good Thing, Bridges has kept his heart on his sleeve but updated his parlance to something a little less affected, a little more believable." Joe Levy of Rolling Stone said, "Not everything works. "If It Feels Good " and "You Don't Know" feel like fake Pharrell, which is some pretty thin plastic. But the closers—the skin-to-skin makeup sex ballad "Mrs." and the free-ranging autobiographical narrative "Georgia to Texas" —show how expansive and individual Bridges can be, even as he guns for the charts." In more mixed reviews, Slant Magazines Zachary Hoskins stated: "The album falters when Bridges strays from his retro-soul wheelhouse." Kitty Empire of The Observer said, "Certain sections of Bridges's audience are likely to define themselves against modern forms, so there is a risk here. But Bridges handles the transition deftly." Kate Lismore of DIY commented that, "While he proves in spades that he's not merely a throwback artist who has to rely on nostalgia, the mishmash of sounds coming from the album does feel a little muddled at times."
