Josh Ross Plants His Flag With Bold, Emotional Debut Album 'Later Tonight'
- All Country News
- Sep 19
- 2 min read
Josh Ross has never been one to take the long way around a feeling. With his highly anticipated first full-length album Later Tonight, out now via Universal Music Canada/Republic Records, the rising star doubles down on the raw honesty and rock-soaked edge that’s propelled him from Canadian newcomer to a name Nashville can’t stop talking about.
Produced by longtime creative partner Matt Geroux, the same hand behind Ross’s JUNO Award-winning EP Complicated, the 15-track collection isn’t just an arrival; it’s a statement. It’s Ross saying, this is me, all in, no half measures.
From the adrenaline rush of “Hate How You Look,” his most-added country radio single, to the polished ache of “Single Again,” which marked Ross’s first U.S. country No. 1, the album builds a bridge between arena-ready power and intimate storytelling. There are surprises too, like a swagger-filled collaboration with Akon on “Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na),” proving Ross isn’t afraid to stretch the borders of his sound.
But at the center of it all is the title track, “Later Tonight," a song Ross says became the compass for the project.
“Every single we put out, every show we’ve played has led to this,” Ross explains. “We dug deep writing for this album, leaning into getting caught in your feelings, breaking up, making up. No matter what, all roads led back to Later Tonight.”
That depth shows in tracks like “Half Lit,” a smoldering cut co-written with hitmakers Michael Tyler, Josh Miller, Will Bundy, and John Morgan and “Songs You Gave Me,” a stripped-down, memory-soaked ballad penned with Mason Thornley and Geroux. The record closes on one of its most powerful moments: “Scared of Getting Sober,” a raw confession co-written with Joe Fox, Seth Ennis, Thornley, and Heath Warren, that leaves listeners both haunted and hopeful.
For Ross, this album is more than a career milestone, it’s the culmination of years of grit and grind since he left Canada for Nashville seven years ago. “I’m proud of what this album turned out to be; it took a lot of living to make it,” Ross says. “I hope that every person that listens to it finds a song or a situation that they can relate to.”
Country music has no shortage of rising stars, but few are delivering with the conviction and the consistency that Ross brings to Later Tonight. With its anthems, heartbreakers, and boundary-pushing collabs, the album doesn’t just introduce Josh Ross to the world. It plants his flag firmly in the ground: one of the strongest new voices in country has truly arrived.
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