Little Big Town is turning up the heat with a little help from Kelsea Ballerini on their brand-new duet, “Closing Time,” out now alongside an official music video. The flirtatious new track is the latest taste of Little Big Town’s upcoming album, It’s A Dying Art, arriving August 28 via MCA.
And despite that title, this isn’t exactly a song about everybody politely paying their tab, calling an Uber, and heading home.
“Closing Time” leans straight into that familiar last-call tension when the bar may be shutting down, but two people have already decided the night isn’t anywhere close to over. It’s confident, playful and sexy without trying too hard to prove it, which makes Kelsea Ballerini a pretty natural fit alongside Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook.
More importantly, Little Big Town still understands something that gets lost surprisingly often when artists start stacking big-name collaborations onto an album: a good duet needs chemistry, not just two recognizable names on the track listing.
WATCH: Little Big Town featuring Kelsea Ballerini, “Closing Time”
The release arrives just two weeks ahead of It’s A Dying Art, an album co-produced by two-time Grammy winner Gena Johnson and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. The project is built around intimate storytelling and music that embraces the imperfections and lived experiences of actual human beings making music together. After more than 25 years of Little Big Town, that’s territory this group has certainly earned the right to explore.
“Closing Time” lands at track 10 on the 13-song album and isn’t the only collaboration in the bunch. Ashley Monroe joins the group on “Sucker For A Sad Song,” while Jason Isbell appears on “The Door.” We’ve also already heard “Hey There Sunshine,” “Over And Over,” “We Could Have It All” and other previews from the project.
Here at CountryMusicNewsBlog.com, we’ve watched Little Big Town spend years proving that their biggest strength isn’t simply four great voices. It’s knowing when to let those voices collide, when to leave space, and when bringing somebody else into that chemistry can make things even more interesting.
The group will celebrate the release of It’s A Dying Art with a September 1 performance on the TODAY Plaza as part of TODAY’s Citi Concert Series before heading out on their For The Art Of It Tour, which kicks off September 24 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The run continues through the fall before Little Big Town wraps up the year with three Christmas shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium December 8 through 10.
So yes, Little Big Town has a new album coming, a major tour ahead and more than two decades of history behind them. But right now?
They’re at closing time with Kelsea Ballerini, and apparently nobody involved is ready to go home yet.