DALTON DOVER

                                                             "Giving Up On That" 

                                                              UMG Nashville/Mercury Records

Named as a 2023 artist to watch by Pandora and Amazon Music, added to CMT’s Listen Up Class of 2023, and with his previous releases, “Hear About A Girl,” “Damn Good Life,” “You Got A Small Town,” and “Baby I Am” earning incredible acclaim, Dalton Dover’s star is absolutely on the rise.

He now delivers his highly anticipated, major label debut with “Giving Up On That.”

The song, written by Dover with Adam Craig and Josh Pierce, was first introduced to music lovers during his Grand Ole Opry debut and quickly became a fan favorite, instantly adding the connection factor that will be a key player to elevating his status level to even higher peaks throughout the new year.

The built for mainstream country radio tempo drips with modern country flare, gaining an accent from a simple, ear-catching backbeat that perfectly slides behind Dover’s big voice as he drives it through transparent honesty that clearly shows he’s looked in the mirror in the aftermath of a breakup. 

Lamenting on the opening line of the song that he hates that she met him when he was a sinner, he then begins to run through a list of who he is now and how he’s working on becoming the man she deserved to have, punching the chorus with a hopeful fire that he prays will convince her to come back now that he’s realized his faults, pleading on lines such as: 

“I’ve given up on drinking as much as I used to when I had you”

“Given up on just sayin’ I’m gonna change, I’ve given up on passing the blame”

But is it all too little too late?

We see Dover deliver the cry that flips the script to what he won’t quit during the hook of the song, “But when it comes to wanting you back, I ain’t ever giving up on that!” However, by never fully resolving whether she does come back to him or not, he expertly grips the realities of the daily struggles that come attached with accepting your own flaws while leaning into the anxiety of the here and now through the trying to right the wrongs if she’ll even let him back in to do it.

Confessionally punching the line in the bridge, “I wish I would’ve been a better man back then,” perfectly ties the emotional tug together as he’s fully understanding his mistakes, facing his own faults, and maturely never pointing the finger at her.

Having already earned a tremendous following, it’s pretty easy to predict that this song takes Dalton Dover into heavy rotation at radio while solidifying the status tags that have already been placed on him as he embraces this major step on his path toward becoming country music’s next breakout star.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis) 

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