The song was written by David Cook together with Jay Knowles and Trent Summar. It was the third song Cook wrote after he moved to Nashville in 2012. Although Cook went into the writing session intending to write for himself, he felt the song didn't fit him. Trent Summar sang in the demo, and Ron Stuve pitched the song to Joe Fisher at
UMG who put it on hold for David Nail. According to Nail, "Kiss You Tonight" had the impact on him similar to what "
Need You Now" by
Lady Antebellum had. He said that it "was a song that the first time I heard it I knew I was going to record it. There was just something about it that made me remember so many songs from the past that, you know there’s not a specific thing that jumps out at you the first time you hear it you just know, 'Hey, I wanna hear that again.'" The song is a track from the album ''
I'm a Fire'' produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf. On February 18, 2014, Nail announced that the song would be his second single from the album. It was released to radio with an add date of March 3, 2014. ==Critical reception==