The song drops ahead of his 46-city Damn Near Normal World Tour
On the heels of “Damn Near Normal,” the first preview of forthcoming new music from genre-disrupting force Koe Wetzel unleashes “9 Lives (Black Cat).”
“There’s a storm brewing in a pool hall down in Houston/where some poor old boy’s bout to get his teeth knocked out,” Wetzel growls in the very first lyric of the high-octane track. Arriving with an ominous piano intro, the song explodes into a chest-thumping declaration of defiance. Yes, the narrator may have burned through eight lives so far — succumbing to pitfalls ranging from a drug dealer to a rodeo bull — but he dares you to “put the black cat down.”
“I always like hitting the listener right in the nose,” Wetzel says. “‘9 Lives’ is a straight-up rock song, man. I’m influenced by so many genres of music, but with this record, I found myself going back to the Texas country and classic rock that I grew up listening to.”
Written by Wetzel alongside producer Gabe Simon (Lana Del Rey, Noah Kahan, Dua Lipa) and Amy Allen (Justin Bieber, The Chainsmokers, Harry Styles), “9 Lives” contains a solid helping of what he calls the “rocky nasty shit” on which he’s built his career, offsetting the vulnerability of “Damn Near Normal” and sharing as a preview of the balanced and wide-ranging juxtaposition of music he’s excited to continue sharing with fans.
The live phenom plans to take his new music global this year as well, with headlining sets at both Cattle Country Fest and Country Thunder Arizona this weekend preceding his recently announced 46-date Damn Near Normal World Tour. Wetzel will also perform prominent sets at several additional festivals this year, including Rock the Country, Hangout, Country Jam, Country Thunder Wisconsin, WE Fest, Watershed and more, plus a hometown stadium show as he joins Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time World Tour in Arlington, Texas this July.
