Once I’d finished laughing like a drain at the start of the second verse (“The way she fit in those blue jeans, she don’t need no belt, but I can turn ’em inside out, I don’t need no help.”) it was the finger clicks that most caught my attention. Although this percussive element is a stalwart of many mainstream styles, it’s often far from easy to mix. The problem is that recordings of finger clicks rarely present much true mid-range energy, so tend to lack solidity and sound thin once placed at a sensible level in the balance. This is especially true in situations like this Sam Hunt song, where they’re being called upon to provide the main backbeat on their own. Indeed, listening carefully, I’m pretty sure that part of the reason they hold their own here is that there’s some kind of soft snare hit or guitar palm-mute sample layered surreptitiously amongst the click layers to add mid-range punch. Check out the first section of the first verse (0:11-0:21), for instance, or the first chorus (1:10-1:27), and compare the sound of the stereo Middle and Sides components, since the additional mid-range appears to be centrally panned.