Sam Pounds is quite the genre-bender. With his debut album, Don’t Forget Where You Came From, the tunesmith stirs smokey country & western with a particular pop elixir. And you can count “I Can Tell You Been Drinkin’” among his finest concoctions.

“Friday night, my phone’s buzzin’ in my pocket,” he sings in the tantalizing opening verse. “I got something you missing / You want it.” Sultry and polished, the mid-tempo boot-scooter kicks up dust and beckons the listener into a seductive musical web.

Pounds co-wrote the song with Chris Valenzuela, Matty Gibbons, Michael Ferrucci, and Nicholas Autry.  “You turn me on / I can’t turn you down / Next thing you know you’re in my house / I can tell when you been drinkin’,” he sings. The drums pound the eardrums, and Pounds’ voice oozes onto the recording, syrupy and thick. If there’s ever a performance that plants his flag firmly in modern country music, this is it.

Listen to “I Can Tell You Been Drinkin’” below.

Don’t Forget Where You Came From, out now via The Penthouse Southern / Sumerian Nashville, also features such other standouts as “Good Spirits” and “Next Level.” Zipping from blues and rock to country, the 8-track release pays tribute to his roots in Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina. He fits each genre like a glove, proving he’s a master of it all. It’s only a matter of time before he’ll be taking over the airwaves in a big way.