This full-length debut from Josh Ross is a long time in the making, following the acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter’s JUNO Award-winning 2024 EP Complicated and arriving six years after the release of his first single, 2019’s “If You Were a Song.” Accordingly, the Matt Geroux-produced album sounds confident and sturdy, with the kind of radio-friendly country that first found Ross fans in and outside of his native Ontario and would later earn him honours like back-to-back Canadian Country Music Association Award Entertainer of the Year wins. The album opens with its title track, a sweet and poppy breakup song with the gritty soul of Kip Moore and the R&B influence of Sam Hunt. “Hate How You Look” is arena-ready with its prominent kick drum and soaring chorus, and features the kind of sticky melody that characterizes much of Ross’ music. Other highlights include closing track “Scared of Getting Sober,” a vulnerable song about navigating heartbreak, and “Single Again,” which earned Ross his first No. 1 country song in the United States. Later Tonight also features fan favourite “Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na),” a collaboration with Akon that plays off the pop star/rapper’s 2008 hit single “Right Now (Na Na Na).”