With “Jaded,” the two country stars reunite after their breakthrough 2022 collaboration
Koe Wetzel and Ella Langley have reunited for the first time since their gold-certified 2022 duet, “That’s Why We Fight,” with a new single, “Jaded.” Written by Wetzel, Langley, Jordan Schmidt, and Ernest, “Jaded” is a mid-tempo lament on how partners can take each other for granted and let previous letdowns steal the spark, with both sides asking the same exact question: “How did you get so jaded?” Listen below.
“Ella’s an incredible artist and writer,” Wetzel tells Rolling Stone. “When she delivers a line, you believe it. In ‘Jaded,’ as she’s asking the questions in the chorus — ‘How’d you get so jaded? Who made you like this? Who gave you these problems even I can’t seem to fix?’ — she delivers it with so much care in her voice it draws you in right before it stabs you in the fucking gut. I love it.”
Wetzel released his new record, The Night Champion, in June, with “Jaded” amongst the additional tracks the prolific writer has rolled out in its wake. It comes on the heels of a whirlwind summer for both artists: Langley has been setting records with the success of “Choosin’ Texas” and her album Dandelion, while Wetzel’s The Night Champion Tour has been hitting amphitheaters, and even some arenas, across the country, Europe, and Australia.
Duets with Langley are not the only times Wetzel has dabbled in a successful collaboration: 2024’s “High Road,” featuring Jessie Murph, was the top song on Billboard’s Country Airplay charts. His honest songwriting — and lack of fear around making a song sound a little darker or more dangerous than what we’re used to hearing on country radio — is what sets him apart. “I’m the kind of guy that’s always gonna be brutally honest when it comes to lyrics. I don’t think it’s gonna be a drastic change,” Wetzel told Rolling Stone. “But I just feel like this record really embodied the wild, crazy, says-whatever type of guy I’ve been.”
The Night Champion tour continues tonight in Evansville, Indiana.
