Jordan Davis’ Latest Radio Single Is a ‘Mess’: ‘The Melody Just Locked Me In’

Jordan Davis is releasing “Mess” as his latest radio single, a country song about a man who knows reconnecting with an ex will undo his recovery but calls her anyway. Its untidy-bed refrain captures his emotional dependence, while the song’s uneven verse and tumbling chorus mirror his loss of control.

Davis and co-writers Jacob Davis and Travis Wood developed the song with producer Paul DiGiovanni during a May 6 session in Nashville, starting with an experimental guitar part and considering titles including “Disaster”. Wood proposed “Mess”; the team shaped the contrast between the off-kilter verse and more forceful chorus around a rising pre-chorus. Davis says the melody drew him in and that he liked how unusual the verse felt.