Happy Monday, y’all.
Today for the Song of the Week, we have a brand new tune from Koe Wetzel called “Oklahoma Sun.”
From his brand new, fifth studio album Hell Paso, I’ve been wearing out the repeat button on this one all weekend long.
I recapped a few of my early favorites upon the album release this past Friday, which you can read about here, and I mentioned it briefly in that post, but I felt like it needed a whole moment here as our official Song of the Week.
And actually, this one is a co-write by Koe and Morgan Wallen’s friend and frequent collaborator Ernest, which surprised me a little bit for the fact that this sound feels a little bit outside of Ernest’s wheelhouse.
Make no mistake about it, he’s a great writer, but I’m just used to seeing his name on more pop country songs he’s co-written with Morgan and Hardy, like “Somebody’s Problem” and “More Than My Hometown” from Morgan’s 2021 Dangerous album.
“Oklahoma Sun” is definitely a sad breakup song, and the lyrics are pretty simple for the most part, but the melancholy and mellow production on the chorus is so infectious and catchy that I can’t get enough:
“I’m waitin’ on a storm I know is coming
I’m waitin’ on the sun to sit on down
This Oklahoma sun just keeps on settin’
And my baby ain’t comin’ around”
I just love Koe’s vocals on that last line, “and my baby ain’t comin’ around,” and the picture he paints comparing his feelings about his heartbreak to the anticipation of waiting for a storm he knows is brewing, even if the sun is still shining outside right now.
A Youtube comment on the song summed it up best, saying the sound of this one was very reminiscent of early 2000’s rock like My Chemical Romance, and even more alternative-leaning bands like Jimmy Eat World, for example:
“My Chemical Koemance. Wetzel Eat World.”
Throw Nirvana in that mix, too, and coupled with Koe’s twangy Texas vocals, I guess you could say that pretty much sums up his entire sound.
I’ve found myself calling it “Texas rock” here lately, simply for the fact that I lack any other term to try and describe exactly what his sound is.
Though I’d never try to put Koe in one specific category of music, because you really can’t and I think it would be kind of unfair to do so, whatever this is is really working for me…
“Oklahoma Sun”
