\n<\/p>\n
\n\tKoe Wetzel<\/a> took a spin through the final mix of \u201cJaded\u201d and smiles. \u201cYeah, for sure,\u201d he says to his producer. The East Texas troubadour has been teasing the song almost from the moment he released The Night Champion<\/em> in June, and for good reason: His favorite duet partner is back.<\/p>\n \n\tElla Langley<\/a>, whose twangy \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has been making history on the charts all summer long, collaborated with Wetzel on \u201cJaded,\u201d a funky disco two-step tale of two lovers both wanting to know how the other became so jaded. The single drops on Friday via Columbia records. \u201cJaded\u201d marks their second collab together, following \u201cThat\u2019s Why We Fight,\u201d<\/a> off Langley\u2019s 2023 debut EP, Excuse the Mess<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tIn late May, Wetzel and that producer, Gabe Simon, invited me to listen to not only the 11 tracks on The Night Champion<\/em> \u2014\u00a0Wetzel\u2019s sixth studio album \u2014\u00a0but to the seven additional songs that make up the album\u2019s deluxe version, including \u201cJaded.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSimon may be best known for his work with Lana Del Rey and Noah Kahan \u2014\u00a0he was nominated for a Grammy with the latter \u2014\u00a0but he and Wetzel have a bond that\u2019s almost familial. When I walk through the gold-rimmed door of Nashville\u2019s Gold Pacific Studios, I find the two men sitting at a console. This is their last chance to pick apart The Night Champion<\/em> together, and they\u2019ve both been fretting it. The album is Wetzel\u2019s first as a new dad, and he\u2019s been taking better care of himself than he has for most of his 10-plus year career. If the uncharted territory in Wetzel\u2019s home life mellows out his music, he and Simon both want The Night Champion<\/em> to bring out Wetzel\u2019s outsized personality and melodies one more time.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m the kind of guy that\u2019s always gonna be brutally honest when it comes to lyrics. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna be a drastic change,\u201d Wetzel tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cBut I just feel like this record really embodied the wild, crazy, says-whatever type of guy I\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n