Now what the hell is that this? What’s the enjoyable or problem of attending to the highest if you happen to promote out to get there? Koe Wetzel is meant to be one in every of nation music’s unhealthy boys blowing in from Texas, doing issues his personal means, writing his personal songs, and placing a rock angle behind all of it to upset the prudes. But right here he’s releasing a radio single with seven songwriters that sounds prefer it was rejected from a Dan + Shay session.
Koe’s single “Excessive Highway” with Jessie Murph has been the #1 music on nation radio for the final couple of weeks. Beforehand, Wetzel hadn’t even sniffed the High 40 on radio, however that was okay as a result of he didn’t must. He was minting Gold and Platinum singles simply effective and constructing one thing on his personal Texas fashion.
Koe Wetzel’s at his greatest when he braying drunk for somebody to get him some Taco Bell whereas co-eds whip bras at his face, backed by unhealthy submit grunge ’90s rock riffs. I assume now that Gavin Adcock is on the market out-cocking Koe, Wetzel feels the must be extra commercially relevant. You shouldn’t be afraid of your favourite artists maturing or evolving. However on this case, placing out paint-by-numbers radio singles is a regression, even for somebody like Koe Wetzel.
“Excessive Highway” isn’t totally horrible as a lot because it simply smacks of company radio product. Perhaps it’s not totally uncharacteristic of one thing Koe Wetzel would launch, but it surely’s positively not one thing that makes you are feeling like this can be a win for the nice guys that it went #1.
Each Koe and his attitudinal-sounding collaborator Jessie Murph’s hand gesticulations and hip-hop inflections really feel extremely faux. It’s much less emotive, and extra a put-on angle from a few bumpkins making an attempt to behave road. To be trustworthy, Jessie Murph is the worst a part of this. Apparently she got here up on Tik-Tok, and has additionally collaborated with Diplo, Jelly Roll, Teddy Swims, and Bailey Zimmerman too. That sounds about proper.
Koe Wetzel’s music has at all times been considerably vapid and pandering on the floor, whereas deceptively deep whenever you dig into the lyrics. And upon event, he’ll write and document an undeniably good music, even when his detractors deny it anyway. What was cool about Koe’s main label debut album Sellout (2020) is that he didn’t change himself. He nonetheless wrote his personal songs and was true to his unique sound. With “Excessive Highway,” it seems like he did capitulate.
When you’ve gotten seven songwriters in no matter you’re doing, it turns into so indifferent from the unique inspiration, it’s troublesome to inconceivable to resonate, regardless of how simple it’s to push it up the radio charts from having “that sound.” Koe Wetzel is a rustic male on a significant label, so he apparently deserves a #1 radio single like all of the others. And now he’s acquired one.
Congratulations, I assume.
1 1/2 Weapons Down (3.5/10)
