Single Review: "Seein' Red" is a New Low for Dustin Lynch

Few things irritate me like an artist who breaks onto the scene with a traditional sounding first single only to sell out as hard as possible shortly thereafter. Dustin Lynch is a classic case of this situation, and his most recent single "Seein' Red" is without a doubt the worst release of his career.

Gone is the Dustin Lynch who released "Cowboys and Angels" as his debut single in 2012. He could just as well cut it from his concert set list if he isn't going to show respect to what that song represents with his future releases. It's one thing to have an openness to modern trends, but to allow oneself to be sucked into them so completely is a complete indictment of his character as an artist. I want to like and support Dustin Lynch because I've heard his better material. From the aforementioned debut single to fantastic album tracks like "Hurricane" and "Your Daddy's Boots," Lynch has displayed an understanding of traditional country, as well as the ability to compose interesting, tangible stories in his songwriting.

Let it be no surprise that Lynch's name hasn't been in the songwriting credits to any of his singles in recent memory, and not since the first two singles from his debut album (and one of those songs was the terrible "She Cranks My Tractor," mind you, so his writing isn't infallible). "Seein' Red" is just the latest installment in this pattern of atrocities and hopefully it doesn't gain much traction on radio.

The song begins with an an awkward mix of multiple genres clashing in the arrangement, none of which happen to be country. A muffled, distorted guitar line takes center stage and fails to do anything other than be present. This continues throughout the verse of completely thoughtless lyrics linked here:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Dustin+Lynch-+Seein'+Red+Lyrics

Do I really need to say more about the lyrics? Talk about clumsy. Once the chorus kicks in we hear a faint flicker of steel guitar, which apparently qualifies this as a country song in today's modern mainstream. It's just one more blatant attempt by the suits in Nashville to squeeze as much money as possible out of this obnoxious R&B phase that they're going through thanks to annoying hacks like Thomas Rhett.

"Seein' Red" is truly awful, and represents a new low point in Dustin Lynch's trajectory. I, for one, hope he can see the light and make amends in the future, but when an artist is willing to cut something as bad as this song, that doesn't give me any confidence. 0/10