Koe Wetzel’s new album 9 Lives, out now, is full of surprises—the XXXTENTACION cover (“Depression & Obsession”) is a pretty clear tip-off that it’s no ordinary country record. Another unexpected LP highlight is “High Road”, a fiery collaboration with quickly rising country singer-songwriter Jessie Murph, who, like Wetzel, is known for eschewing hard-and-fast genre conventions. Wetzel says he first met Murph at a co-write in Nashville, and the pair hoped to record a song together in the future. When he and 9 Lives producer Gabe Simon worked on “High Road”, Wetzel began to envision the track as a duet and Murph came to mind. “[She has] a lot of soul and a lot of just powerful shit coming out [of] such a tiny package,” he says. “She’s a firecracker… It turned out great. She’s such a baller.” This playlist tracks what’s happening from the heart of the country scene to its outer edges. Check back here early and often, and if you hear something you like, add it to your library.