Warren Zeiders Gets Candid About The Heartache, Growth & Raw Emotion Behind His Double Album, ‘Relapse, Lies & Betrayal’ [Exclusive]

Warren Zeiders is feeling a huge weight lifted off his shoulders today as his highly anticipated double album, Relapse, Lies, & Betrayal, has finally been unveiled via Warner Records.

As a 25-year-old trying to navigate the world of dating under the circumstances of his unique lifestyle, Zeiders set out to take listeners on a journey through heartbreak, moments of self-reflection and a search to find healing. With so many stories to tell, the project naturally evolved into a 21-track double album that puts his skills as a songwriter on display through his rugged and emotion-filled vocals. The project was produced by Ross Copperman, Mike Elizondo and Zeiders, and features songs all co-penned by Zeiders and other standout writers.

“There was just so much I had to say and I wanted to get so much of it out there for people to indulge in and for people to listen,” Zeiders explained. “And the state of where I’m at right now in my career, I have a culty fan base and I have a fan base that needs to be fed and I have so much to say. It’s funny to be sitting here having this interview because it’s like, I’m always writing and I’m always doing stuff and I hear I have an album coming out and I’m like, I got so much more to say.”

Choosing The Title

The entire process to creating this album, from writing and producing to selecting the sequencing and deciding on the title, was all meticulously thought out by Zeiders. He explained that the project was originally set to be named after the track, “Death of a Cowboy” as a way to keep fans guessing about what direction he was going in next.

“We wanted people to think, ‘Where’s he going next with his music? What’s going on? Is he leaving the cowboy scene behind, what’s going on?,’ he explained.

However, after reviewing his strategy over the last year and everything that came from his No. 2 most-played song on Country Radio in 2024, “Pretty Little Poison,” he decided to keep the momentum going and focus on his latest single, “Relapse.” Then came the remainder of the title, “Lies, & Betrayal.”

“It’s a heavy title. It very much so is, but it is prevalent and it makes sense for why I went with it, with what I’ve gone through over this past year,” Zeiders shared honestly. “So in my life and things, and life has been nothing but good to me, there’s good and bad in everything that you go through and you got to go through some things to grow through it. I mean you have a title that is ‘Relapse’ and you hear it and you think of drugs and alcohol at first. And then that’s something that I love to do with my titles is take a title and flip it on its head.”

Zeiders took the title “Relapse” and penned a song about young love and the struggle to stay away from someone even though you know you’re not supposed to be together. He then focused on the personal distrust that arose from “Betrayal,” exploring the pain of saying goodbye to someone he had trusted, introduced to his family, and who ultimately let him down. The only portion of the title that fans had to wait to experience until the entire album was released was “Lies,” which finds the country star depicting what it’s like to date in the current generation from his perspective.

“I am very much so a lone wolf and going through that was just a showcasing of why I am and when God finds his timing for me is when that’ll be so. But going through a relationship, and we’ve all been through it before and especially in today’s world where it’s hard to trust people and just, I was sick of the lying and the BS that entails with that, with going through that dating scene,” he said of the sentiment behind “Lies.”

Zeiders continued, “So all that to be said, more than anything, you get to this three-title album and the reality is that whether you’re a fan now or you’re not a fan yet, it is a title that makes you wonder ‘what is this body of art about?’ And that’s what I wanted to go with. I wanted something that was attention grabbing, something that was all encompassing of what made sense for this body of work, but also what is being said in these 20-plus songs.”

No Song Is Too Vulnerable

The Hershey, PA native used songwriting as a therapeutic outlet, channeling his rollercoaster of emotions into raw, honest lyrics to create a deeper connection with his fans. He credits his success to the sheer amount of vulnerability that he has been able to share through his music and because of that, he’s yet to encounter a song or experience that is too honest or personal to share with his listeners.

“I think that it’s the no remorse part of me, of not being shy, of showcasing my feelings and showcasing truly who I am at the end of the day of being like, whether you love me or hate me, you got super fans and then you got keyboard warriors on socials that just hate to see you win…for me, there’s nothing that I have felt where it’s like this is too much to share.”

Teaming Up With Lanie Gardner On “Love In Letting Go”

However, he went on to say that if he had to choose one song off the record that brought up the most emotion for him during the writing process, it would be the project’s sole collaboration, “Love In Letting Go” with up-and-comer, Lanie Gardner.

“That is the one song on the record that I actually cried writing and cried numerous times living with the demo for a while and bringing up really raw emotions…So there’s a lot of vulnerability on this record. There’s a lot of piss and vinegar, there’s a lot of sides to me. And then there’s fun parts too. There’s fun parts of me of showcasing all facets and sides to who Warren Zeiders is,” he stated.

This tune was penned during a retreat in Miami, which also spawned almost four other tracks for the project. He ended up bringing this particular song to life with the help songwriters Blake Pendergrass, Griff Clawson, Jacob Kasher, Nick Long and Ali Tamposi, whose vocals were also used on the demo. While living with the recorded track, he knew that it couldn’t be released unless it was a duet and luckily, Gardner was the perfect voice to fill that role.

“This song has no way of being released unless it’s a duet. I’m like, it has to portray the story of what is really being said here. And it was a process to go through everything and find what I believed was a match made in heaven with finding the correct vocal performance, the right artist that had the right vocal tonality and to fit the sentiment of what I was really wanting for that duet to feel like…it was a process to find who I thought was fitting,” he acknowledged. “And shout out to Lanie. She crushed it and I was over in Europe when I got the mix sent over to me of her vocal on it and I was like, this is it. She crushed it. She did a great job and I’m sold. So shout out to her and I appreciate her coming in and putting a vocal on it and doing a duet with me and doing my song justice that I wrote.”

By solidifying his signature sound and using his relentless drive to propel him further in his career, Warren Zeiders is proving he has a lot more to say, and this album is just the start.

Warren Zeiders will conclude his release week by making his headline debut at the Houston Rodeo on Saturday, March 15. Then he will return to Nashville’s newest music venue, The Pinnacle, to kick off his 2025 Relapse Tour which includes 25+ stops across major markets like Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Charlotte, Milwaukee and more.