Florida Georgia Line‘s big musical gamble has paid off in spades. The superstar duo’s latest single, “H.O.L.Y.,” has reached the top of the charts just weeks after it was released to country radio.
“H.O.L.Y.” is a turn in a much different direction for the pair, both musically and lyrically. The lyrics paint a romantic love in almost spiritual terms, and in fact, “H.O.L.Y.” is an acronym for High On Loving You. The music is quite different for FGL, too; it’s a power ballad that’s unlike anything they’ve ever released.
“H.O.L.Y.” is the lead single from FGL’s upcoming third studio album, Dig Your Roots, and it could have been a big risk for several reasons. The duo have been best-known for their up-tempo, party-hearty anthems, and on top of that, ballads are always a gamble at country radio going into the summer, when lighter, beach-friendly summer fare is the order of the day.
But it was apparent that they were onto something special when they debuted the song live at the ACCAs, and sure enough, “H.O.L.Y.” sits at No. 1 onBillboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart this week, as well as the Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Songs charts. The song made an incredible jump from No. 39 to No. 1 in a single week.
Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley promise the entire album will be a more mature effort.
“It’s the perfect evolution,” Kelley told Taste of Country at the 2016 ACM Awards. “I think, really honestly, we’ve tried as best we can to be as transparent as we can with our lyrics and our music and record and write exactly where we’re at and then release it.”