Beartooth have released their first-ever collaboration, a new song called “The Better Me” featuring country rocker Hardy, and fans seem to be pretty split over it.
“The Better Me” is the fifth track Beartooth have shared from their upcoming fifth album The Surface, which is due out Oct. 13 on Red Bull Records. The accompanying video for the song features clips of frontman Caleb Shomo and Hardy performing the track in a studio, driving and playing golf — a lighthearted group of visuals to match the positive nature of the music.
“There are times where we feel like there is a way better version of ourselves somewhere deep inside that we need to find and bring back to the forefront of our lives,” Shomo said of the song in a press release. “This song is about going through the things that brought me to that conclusion. Simply put, I made a choice to be a better me.”
While Hardy is predominantly recognized as a country artist, he’s had a few songs land in the Top 15 of the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart from his 2023 album The Mockingbird & The Crow. The record is a mix of both rock and country songs, so “The Better Me” is the latest addition to his rock catalog.
As with any new song, fans seem to have a mix of reactions on social media. But since this was Beartooth’s first-ever collaboration, their feelings seem to be especially split. Those on the positive side have commended Shomo’s journey as a musician.
“If you don’t like the new Beartooth song, I’m assuming you’ve never wanted to get better,” a defender of the track wrote on X.
Others, on the other hand, seem turned off that the song features a country artist, and that it’s more positive-sounding than Beartooth’s older releases.
“I feel like Beartooth tried to write a Hardy song. Not Hardy trying to fit in a Beartooth song. It’s not bad but so far the weakest off of the album,” someone wrote.
“I’ve been a staunch defender of Beartooth for the better part of a decade, but this is the first miss for me. I wouldn’t call it outright bad, but it just caters so hard to the feature that it almost stops being a Beartooth song to me,” another added.
“[To be honest], I’m happy Caleb has become so much more healthy but I’m not gunna pretend I don’t prefer Disgusting. Please give me more music that sounds like ‘I have a problem’ musically,” another fan commented on a Reddit post that discusses the song, with another labeling it as “y’all-core.”
READ MORE: 11 Rock + Country Artist Collaborations That Go Hard
See some other reactions to “The Better Me” below.
Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong’s interview with Hardy will air on the show Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7PM ET. The show airs live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.
Beartooth, ‘The Better Me’ featuring Hardy
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