Billboard's Makin' Tracks column looks at the writing and recording behind Tucker Wetmore's "Who Told You That.
Tucker Wetmore earned his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay with the fast-paced, Western-tinged “Brunette,” which topped out on the list dated May 30. Explore Tucker Wetmore See latest videos, charts and news.
Even before that song had run its course, Wetmore already had a follow-up ready to go, a similarly fast-paced number with a different sound that he debuted in concert on April 28 in London.
That’s an extension of the atmosphere in which “Who Told You That” was written on March 4.
O cronograma original previa uma escrita tríplice com Michael Tyler (“Somewhere on a Beach,” “Girl Dad”) e Hunter Phelps (“wait in the truck,” “Bar None”). Mas Ashley Gorley (“Don’t We,” “Woman”) tinha um espaço vago em seu calendário, e a diretora de criação e presidente da Tape Room Music, Alicia Pruitt, conseguiu agendá-lo para aquela sessão.
Tyler e Phelps chegaram cedo, e tinham Wetmore em seu radar.
Tyler had pitched the title unsuccessfully at a Russell Dickerson writing session, though his angle was different. He envisioned it as a song about a woman who doesn’t believe she’s attractive.
Gorley kicked into short, choppy chords on the keyboard, and Schmidt picked up on the groove, building a track around a stabbing electric guitar playing mostly complex chords: some sevenths, maybe some ninths.
Gorley grabbed a microphone and freestyled a chorus melody over the track, mostly using short phrases that mimicked the length of the hook. He sang the phrase “who told you that” in the three spots where that hook belonged, but otherwise just served up nonsense syllables as placeholders.
At the half-way mark in the chorus, the topline changed. Instead of short, energetic phrases, it shifted into easy-going, long notes, then into a shout-out about the grapevine — “They love to lie!” — before settling back into the original melody.
They essentially created a series of hooks in a single stanza.
Quando substituíram o nonsense, recorreram a imagens românticas — “café na cama”, “mimosas no seu copo” — enquanto o cantor insiste que pode ser romântico. Dadas as rumorosas especulações nas redes sociais que circulam em torno dos artistas, imaginaram que Wetmore apreciaria a mensagem.
Wetmore “is a good-looking dude, so [people] probably assume that he’s a player,” Tyler says. “But from what I know of him, he is not. I figured Tucker would like that idea.”.
With the chorus’ busy melody established, they placed space between the phrases in the verses to create further contrast.
Before it was over, they wedged in a bridge that provided another melodic change of pace. More importantly, it examined the “Who Told You That” title in a new way.
Tyler cantou os vocais para a demo produzida por Schmidt, adicionando outro gancho pós-refrão "who told you" em harmonia em três partes. Schmidt copiou isso para a introdução enquanto produzia a demo naquela noite, e ela recebeu ótimas críticas.
Tyler was rocking his son to sleep when the demo arrived, and after he listened to it on headphones, he passed it along to Westmore with a text: ““Had to hail Mary this one because it’s heat.”.
Wetmore took one listen and texted back within five minutes: “Instant hold.”.
The next morning, Wetmore texted the chord chart, full of sevenths and ninths, to the writers as he co-produced “Who Told You That” with Chris LaCorte (Dickerson, Sam Hunt).
After providing a scratch vocal track, Wetmore spent most of his time in the control room, looking to coax as many good-timing effects as the track could bear. Bassist Jimmie Lee Sloas dressed it up with more “ghost notes” — small pops and leading tones — than the demo had offered.
Kris Donegan took on the spiky rhythm guitar parts, while Nathan Keeterle tackled the frenzied sig lick.
Wetmore woodshedded on the song before he cut the final vocals a week later, determined not to trip over the melody’s barrage of fast-moving phrases.
Weeks later, he came across Gorley at a scenic golf course in the Bahamas. He played the track for Gorley on a golf cart, and the songwriter was so inspired by the results that he had extra power when he teed off at the next hole.
A canção mais ousada das Wetmore’s, ele estava convencido de que “Who Told You That” deveria ser seu próximo single. A Mercury Nashville o lançou para o rádio country via PlayMPE em 9 de julho.
Ela está na 41ª posição na parada Hot Country Songs da Billboard datada de 15 de agosto.
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Informação baseada em material público de Billboard, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
