It'd be hard to argue Jake Owen's sincerity on his new single 'The One That Got Away.' By the end of the song, Owen is almost shouting the chorus in anger as if the shadow of the "one that got away" is still looming over his crestfallen heart.

Owen used Twitter to announce that the last track from his 'Barefoot Blue Jean Night' album would be its third single. It's the only one he helped co-write, and it'd be fair to credit him with the beach setting, as he grew up in Vero Beach, Fla.

"Well she kissed my lips / Down on Ocean Drive / She set my world on fire / On the fourth of July / We wrote our names in the sand / Under the star-soaked sky / But it washed away like she did / With the rising tide," Owen sings during the second verse. Ocean Dr. is indeed the main drag in Vero Beach.

The timing for this song is perfect, as it'll become his next hit when summer is dying down, leaving a class of beachcombers longing for one more ray of sunshine. Sonically, the uptempo pace doesn't quite match the story a la ''Til Summer Comes Around' by Keith Urban; Owen soaks his song in sharp anguish instead of nostalgia.

"She was the one that got away / The one that wrecked my heart / I should've never let her go / I should've begged her to stay / She was the one that got away / Yeah, the one that got away," the singer adds during the chorus.

As he gets older, Owen is becoming more adept at selling the emotion in his music, but he's not quite at the level of someone like Urban or Kenny Chesney. It's clear he wants to be there however, and he's getting closer with each new release. The difference between good and great is only a few small details, and Owen has the work ethic and positive attitude to make those tweaks for his next album.

In the next five years, it'd be very surprising not to see him standing on stage accepting the same awards the previously mention country men have earned.

3.5 Stars
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Listen to Jake Owen's 'The One That Got Away'

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