Tucker Wetmore explains releasing a summer mixtape instead of an album

Tucker Wetmore had been working toward a full album this year, but decided the project wasn't coming together the way he wanted and shifted to a six-song project instead, Country Now reported. "I was working towards an album this year for a long time and this year's just been crazy," he told Country Now and other outlets. "There's been so many things going on that I just wasn't in the head space for an album."

He said he still wanted to give fans something he could be proud of. "I knew I wanted to give the fans body music, but I still wanted to be proud of it," he said, adding that he felt he had truly done everything he could for the project. "And I got to be able to accomplish that with this record."

The result, Sunburn Mixtape, arrived July 31 through Back Blocks Music, MCA and Mercury Records. It pairs three previously released songs, including the radio single "Who Told You That," with three new tracks: "Crazy To Yourself," "98%" and "YOURS."

Wetmore said "98%" came together quickly during a writers' retreat in Arizona with Chris LaCorte, Rodney Clawson and Jacob Hackworth, built around wordplay on the idea that "good girls are never always good." He called it one of his favorite songs on the project, sonically flirting with '70s and '80s influences like the Eagles and Bobby Caldwell while keeping its country twang.

He described "YOURS" as an attempt to put small-town imagery toward feelings he said many people struggle to say directly. "It was like campfire cracking with the crickets and the frogs, moonlight shining on a Yeti and a dog," he said, describing that imagery as the backbone of a love song aimed at a specific woman.

Wetmore discussed the new tracks while celebrating his latest number-one hit, "Brunette," with members of the country music industry, saying the mixtape's goal throughout was to keep things fun and lighthearted.

He heads back on the road in September for the second leg of his Brunette World Tour, and that same month he'll join Brooks & Dunn for select dates, including a stop at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on September 12. Fans can track both runs through the release calendar and the wider country touring schedule.