The Texas outfit The Wilder Blue is building on a viral 2023 collaboration with Luke Combs on a cover of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road," which raised the independent band's profile and led to opening slots on Combs' 2024 stadium tour. Frontman Zane Williams says the band hasn't become overnight superstars, but the exposure has allowed them to tour more widely and reinvest in recording, culminating in their newly released fifth studio album, Cinco.

The 10-track record, recorded at Sonic Ranch studio near El Paso, features the band's signature five-part harmonies alongside guest contributions from notable Texas musicians and Nineties country star Tracy Byrd, spanning styles from waltz and modern country to bluegrass. The band, formed by Williams in 2019 after his solo career, treats regular new releases as a discipline to meet fan expectations in the independent music scene. Notably, outside songwriters used the AI tool Suno during the demo stage to quickly test different musical styles, even as the same company faces a lawsuit from Jason Isbell and other artists over alleged misuse of their identities to train its AI.