Even as Blake Shelton’s career has seemingly become ‘top flight’ due to factors outside of his actual talent (his Twitter tweets and upcoming marriage to Miranda Lambert being two of them), people forget there’s a real reason for him being nominated for CMA Male Vocalist of the Year for the very first time this year: He’s a damn good vocalist. Take one to “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” his follow-up single to consecutive #1 hits “Hillbilly Bone” and “All About Tonight.” Not only does the song remind people how Blake got to the dance in the first place – as a first rate ballad singer – but why he continues to be a great interpreter of emotional songs and it’s likely why he was able to turn Michael Bublé’s hit single “Home” into a popular chart-topping country hit. 

With “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” Blake Shelton takes the quiet introspective route of “Home” and what a fantastic and laid-back track it is.  Written by Earl Bud Lee (“Friends in Low Places” and “One Night At A Time”) and John Wayne Wiggins (of 90s duo John and Audrey Wiggins), the song – which Joe Nichols previously recorded on his Real Things album – is a sweet and romantic in the questions that the man asks the woman who is so strikingly beautiful to him. 

It may be a ‘list song’ but the lyrics of “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” an emotion that anyone who has ever been in love will certainly relate to.  It’s a song about the period of discovery in a relationship when you want to know everything about the person you’re with.  The laid-back melody requires an artist who won’t ‘oversing’ and that’s exactly what Blake Shelton has done here as he shows off plenty of traditionalist nuance in his vocal.  In the more laid-back fall the timing was right to release this song to radio and as romantic as it is, I can imagine a few people slow dancing to this one at a bar or wedding.

With “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” Blake Shelton returns to the romantic balladeer side that brought him to the dance and it’s a fantastic reminder of why Blake Shelton truly is one of country music’s best male vocalists currently recording country music.

You can support Blake Shelton by purchasing this single at Amazon | iTunes.