In 2015, Lady Antebellum began experiencing declining success with the singles released from their sixth studio album, 747, which the band attributes to a "fatigue" amongst fans and radio programmers. After the completion of their accompanying Wheels Up Tour, the group announced a short hiatus from recording or touring. During this time, the members all worked on individual projects - Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott on their solo debuts The Driver and Love Remains, respectively, and Dave Haywood on the production of Post Monroe's debut EP. When the group returned to work on their next album, they spent a month in Los Angeles, California and recruited pop producer busbee to oversee the project. "You Look Good" was reportedly on hold for Thomas Rhett before being picked up and recorded by Lady Antebellum. The song was released January 19, 2017. "You Look Good" serves as the group's first new release since 2014 following their hiatus.
Composition
"You Look Good" is primarily a country pop song with influences of funk, jazz, and soul. The song incorporates a "brassy" horn section, a career first for the group. Billy Dukes of Taste of Country noted that "You Look Good" is the group's third consecutive lead single to " the perception of who they are."
Critical reception
Billy Dukes of Taste of Country praised the energy of the song, writing, "any time Hillary Scott can match easy swagger they look — and sound — good. In fact, Lady Antebellum rarely loses when the two vocalists are committed to the same vocal emotion." David Watt of All Noise wrote that "You Look Good" is "a good song with a... fresh sound and it has proved the claims... made by the band about their... to innovate."
Commercial performance
"You Look Good" debuted at number 27 on the BillboardCountry Airplay chart dated February 4, 2017 as the week's "hot shot debut." It also debuted at number 41 on the magazine's Hot Country Songs chart dated February 4, 2017. The song sold 4,000 copies in its first day of availability. After Lady Antebellum's performance at the ACM Awards, the song sold 41,000 copies, up 320% from the week before. It has sold 408,000 copies in the US as of September 2017.
Music video
The group released an official lyric video to accompany the song on January 19, 2017. Chronicling the months spent working on Heart Break, the video includes Polaroid photos and video footage of this time period and shows Charles, Hillary, and Dave "goofing off." The video ends with a clip of the group from 2006 before the release of their debut because, as Haywood told Billboard, they "wanted to get back that feeling we felt back in 2006 when we started" during the recording process of this album. An official music video was released in June 2017. Directed by Shane Drake, it was filmed back-to-back with the video for their next single, "Heart Break" on location in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The same lead actress and actor from this video star in the next video. This one shows the group performing the song in a sweaty nightclub full of locals, ending with a "To Be Continued..." moniker.
