Carly Pearce and Riley Green bring a simmering intensity to their vocals in the first preview of their duet, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” which officially drops Friday.
“We’re getting close to losing clothes, I should go/ Look at the time, it’s getting late/ If I don’t leave, I’m gonna stay,” Carly sings as Riley adds harmony to the Dobro-heavy track.
From the beginning, Carly had no question about who the other voice on the song should be.
“I’ve always said this about the duets that I’ve been part of, but I just hear the voice in my head immediately,” she says. “And Riley was the voice that I heard, and I sent him a text and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you will like this song and I’m sure you get asked to do a lot of things, but I really feel like this song is special.'”
Riley wasted little time getting back to her.
“Truly, within five minutes, he texted me back and told me that he was in,” Carly says. “And about an hour later, I got a voice memo of him singing the chorus and I knew immediately that it was gonna be special.”
Carly and Riley both have stellar records when it comes to collabs. “I Hope You’re Happy Now” with Lee Brice and “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” with Ashley McBryde both went to #1 for Carly, while Riley can count “Half of Me” with Thomas Rhett, “Different Round Here” with Luke Combs, and “you look like you love me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella Langley as his collaborative chart-toppers.
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