Doubling down with two brand new tracks.
Despite only releasing two singles, “Surrounded” and “Werewolf,” 2025 proved to be a pretty huge year for Koe Wetzel. Riding the highs of his 2024 album, 9 Lives, he would score his first-career #1 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “High Road” featuring Jessie Murph. In case that wasn’t enough for the Texas native, “High Road” would also go on to be named iHeart Radio’s #1 song of 2025 and furthermore, top Mediabase’s year-end chart, capturing the year-end #1 spot there as well.
As 2026 progressed, it was clear that something big was on the horizon for the “February 28th, 2016” singer. He’d start the year by teasing a new album with the simple caption, “Ready for this new chapter to start.” Wetzel would then follow that up with a brand new song to close January, the reflective “Time Goes On.”
Adding more fuel to the fire after confirming a new album was coming in the summer, Wetzel would then plot a massive, 45-city headlining tour titled, The Night Champion, featuring the likes of Shane Smith & The Saints, Ole 60, Wyatt Flores, Corey Kent, Wade Bowen and more.
With a tour that extensive, the final step was to finally announce the album. Luckily for dedicated fans of the Texas rocker, he would finally confirm on Tuesday that his sixth studio album The Night Champion will be out everywhere on June 12th.
Reflecting on the album, Wetzel would confirm that The Night Champion is a direct continuation of the maturity and growth lyrically present on 9 Lives. In particular, he’d note that the upcoming record finds him trying to make sense of where his life is and trying to find a balance between his wild, partying days and his current journey into being a husband and father,
“It’s a continuation of ‘9 Lives,’ from that record to now. Really, it’s everything that’s happened – because you don’t go from kids playing for beer to headlining Red Rocks, arenas all over the country, partying and trying to make sense of it all and not shift.
My head space is clearer now. I can look back, see how it fits together. It doesn’t make sense, exactly, but it all happened. That search for what it all means keeps bringing me back.”
With that being said, however, Wetzel would tell us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast that fans can still expect some of his signature, rowdy songs strewn throughout the record — essentially promising a little bit for everyone to love on the record.
“The music is maturing a whole lot more. This new record is rowdy. If you’ve been a fan from the beginning, if you are a new fan from the last record, we’ve got a little bit of everything for everybody.”
Originally, the 33-year-old singer/songwriter was only going to release one track today, the heavily-teased “Burns Like You.” With that being said, however, shortly after The Night Champion’s announcement on Tuesday that he would be dropping an additional track, “Dollar and a Bottle.” Taking to Instagram, he’d simply say:
“F*ck it, here’s two. “Dollar and a Bottle” and “Hurts Like You” drop at midnight, May 8.”
Right off the bat, “Hurts Like You” is primed to be a big ‘ol hit for the East Texan. Quite frankly, I’d be shocked if this isn’t serviced to country radio as his next single. Written by Wetzel, Ashley Gorley, Carrie K, Gabie Simon and Steph Jones, the track is simply infectious. Anthemic in nature, it perfectly captures a toxic relationship, with Wetzel essentially saying he’ll go through any type of pain just to be close to his lover. The chorus, in particular, is one of the most anthemic of his career, simply just begging you to sing along when it drops.
“I’ll walk through fire if it burns like you
Hold me like a knife, baby, cut me right in two
Drag me through the dirt like you always do
I can take the pain if it hurts like you
I can take the pain if it hurts like you”
Switching things up completely, “Dollar and a Bottle,” is much more reflective. Feeling reminiscent of the contemplative, R&B-inspired tracks on his last outing, 9 Lives, the track sees Wetzel leaning on the bottle in order to deal with a heartbreak. Intentionally, the track is a bit pathetic narratively, seeing the “Good Die Young” completely lost, not knowing who he is or where he stands, after losing an ex.
“I don’t know where I am
I don’t know who she was
I don’t know where I stand
Tonight I’m drinking ’cause
By the time I hit the bottom, I’ll be alright on my own
I got a dollar and a bottle says that you ain’t coming home”
Overall, it’s incredibly clear that these two tracks represent what Wetzel is going for with the release of The Night Champion as a whole. We undoubtedly received our rowdy outing on “Hurts Like You,” complete with the anthemic, recklessness presence in the chorus. With that being said, however, we get an incredibly dower, reflective track with “Dollar and a Bottle.” June 12th cannot come soon enough.
“Hurts Like You”
“Dollar And A Bottle”
Koe Wetzel Tour Dates
May 9 | Brisbane, Qld. (Australia) | Fortitude Music Hall
July 8 | Edmonton, Alb. (Canada) | Rogers Place
July 10 | Penticton, B.C. (Canada) | South Okanagan Event Center
July 11 | Abbotsford, B.C. (Canada) | Abbotsford Centre
July 23 | Nampa, Idaho | Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
July 24 | Stateline, Nev. | Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
July 25 | Las Vegas, Nev. | The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
July 30 | Airway Heights, Wash. | Northern Quest Casino
July 31 | Bend, Ore. | Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Aug. 1 | Tacoma, Wash. | Dune Peninsula
Aug. 6 | Bonner Springs, Kan. | Azura Amphitheater
Aug. 7 | Evansville, Ind. | Ford Center
Aug. 8 | Nashville, Tenn. | Bridgestone Arena
Aug. 12 | New York, N.Y. | Pier 17
Aug. 13 | Reading, Pa. | Santander Arena
Aug. 14 | Gilford, N.H. | BankNH Pavilion
Aug. 19 | Boston, Mass. | Leader Bank Pavilion
Aug. 20 | Washington, D.C. | The Anthem
Aug. 21 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Petersen Events Center
Aug. 26 | Buffalo, N.Y. | Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B
Aug. 27 | Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center
Aug. 28 | Rochester Hills, Mich. | Meadow Brook Amphitheatre*
Sept. 3 | Austin, Texas | Moody Center
Sept. 4 | Baton Rouge, La. | Raising Cane’s River Center
Sept. 5 | Bossier City, La. | Brookshire Grocery Arena
Sept. 10 | Knoxville, Tenn. | Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
Sept. 11 | Greensboro, N.C. | First Horizon Coliseum
Sept. 12 | Wilmington, N.C. | Live Oak Bank Pavilion
Sept. 17 | Alpharetta, Ga. | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Sept. 18 | Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena
Sept. 19 | Richmond, Va. | Virginia Credit Union LIVE!
Sept. 24 | Pikeville, Ky. | Appalachian Wireless Arena
Sept. 25 | Huntsville, Ala. | The Orion Amphitheater
Sept. 26 | Brandon, Miss. | Brandon Amphitheater
Sept. 30 | Rogers, Ark. | The Walmart AMP
Oct. 1 | North Little Rock, Ark. | Simmons Bank Arena
Oct. 2 | Tulsa, Okla. | BOK Center
Oct. 3 | Wichita, Kan. | INTRUST Bank Arena
Oct. 8 | Chicago, Ill. | Salt Shed Fairgrounds
Oct. 9 | Fishers, Ind. | Fishers Event Center
Oct. 10 | Milwaukee, Wis. | Fiserv Forum
Oct. 28 | Morrison, Colo. | Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Oct. 30 | Lubbock, Texas | Cook’s Garage
