Warren Zeiders
Relapse
Album · Country · 2024
“Relapse” has been a huge hit for Warren Zeiders, a college athlete turned country singer-songwriter whose 2023 album Pretty Little Poison announced a formidable new presence in the outsider-esque sub-genre occupied by artists like Koe Wetzel, Cody Jinks and Bailey Zimmerman. The song, which found viral streaming success and also titles this follow-up, blends ’90s-inspired alternative with gritty Southern rock, lyrically likening a tough-to-shake ex-flame to an addictive drug.
That kind of hardscrabble, hard-partying imagery permeates the record, like on the sludgy power ballad “Intoxicated”, on which Zeiders is a “fiend” for love, and “Addictions”, a plaintive ode to coping mechanisms. Other highlights include the guttural love song “Death of a Cowboy” and closer “Love on the Line”, an anthem of regret. Zeiders recorded the record with producer Mike Elizondo, known for his genre-blurring work with a wide range of artists including Brothers Osborne, Nickel Creek and Dr. Dre.