Ryan Kinder's breathless delivery takes his steamy new song "Friends" to a boil. The singer and songwriter is a man done trying to keep it casual with the woman before him, and the listener senses he's speaking for two.

A catharsis is coming, because the tension of this production — debuted exclusively on Taste of Country — cannot be sustained. Kinder says he thought making each verse all one note would create a really cool tension, and he's absolutely right. "Friends" is a must-have for a late-night, date night playlist.

"Friends don't look at their friends the way you're looking at me right now / Friends don't do with their friends things I wanna do right now," he sings.

Find "Friends" on Kinder's next studio album Room to Dream, available July 30.

"I had this idea for a hook called 'We Can’t Be Friends' floating around for a while," he tells ToC. "[I was] writing with Paul DiGiovanni and Luke Sheets one day and Paul started building this really dark, vibey track and it felt like it could fit for that idea ... The song is about two people who just can’t make a real relationship work. But they definitely have a fire that always gets lit when they see each other. And they’re caught in that tension of wanting the moment and wanting something real."

Room to Dream promises a dynamic mix of country and rock influences punched up with progressive arrangements and bold songwriting. "Hell Is" and "Blame" are two songs the University of Alabama graduate debuted upon announcing the new album last April.

10 Hottest Songs for Summer 2021

Summer 2021 needs a great soundtrack, and country music's biggest stars and hottest newcomers are supplying. Find songs from Little Big Town, Jon Pardi, Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert on this 10 Hottest Songs for Summer 2021 list.

Newcomers Willie Jones and Walker Hayes also make the list with earworms we don't want to quit. Not every hot summer song needs to be a good-time party song, and not every good party song will make a great summer playlist. Our Top 10 embraces a range of emotions and experiences. What would summer be without summer love or summer heartache, or a bit of nostalgia?

Scroll down to see all 10 songs on this list of the hottest summer country songs. It's part of Taste of Country's summer Hot List, an annual report on the songs and artists set to bake this year.

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