In a quiet cabin, somewhere between tour stops and voice notes, a new chapter found its way out of Chance Peña. The Texas-born singer-songwriter and producer has released “Wolves of Worry,” a haunting and deeply vulnerable new track that peels back the quiet desperation of anxiety and transforms it into something spectral. It arrives ahead of his debut full-length album When I Change My Mind I Don’t Mean It, due August 29 via Columbia Records.
Opening with sparse instrumentation and Peña’s signature poetic lyricism, “Wolves of Worry” grows from soft spoken story into a full-blown catharsis, complete with howling vocals, frenetic guitar, and all. It’s a track that starts with restraint, but doesn’t stay there long.
“I came up with the riff for ‘Wolves of Worry’ on tour and tried writing to it but never got anywhere,” Peña shared. “But while we were at the cabin, I pulled up a voice note, and the song just poured out. It felt like another reminder that you need to let the songs show you what they want to be, rather than trying to force the whole process.”
It’s the kind of insight that makes Peña’s recent string of releases so compelling. Earlier singles “Tongue Tied” and “Collapse” tread similar ground, blending folk-rooted storytelling with emotionally raw, cinematic production. But “Wolves of Worry” feels like the emotional apex. It’s a track less concerned with perfection and more focused on truth.
The upcoming album, his second in just a year following Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming, is already being described as his most visionary work yet, leaning into dreamlike reflections on loss, identity, and inner change. And if Wolves is any indication, When I Change My Mind I Don’t Mean It won’t shy away from emotional extremes. It sounds like a storm that’s been building quietly for years.
Peña, who first broke out with the soul-stirring “i am not who i was” in 2023, continues to carve space in the indie world with songs that are intimate, emotionally open, and completely unafraid to hurt a little. At just 25, his catalog already shows a depth well beyond his years, one sharpened by co-writing credits for artists like John Legend and a growing global audience that now stretches well beyond East Texas.
He’ll join The Lumineers later this year on “The Automatic World Tour,” followed by a run with Tom Odell in Europe and headline dates in Australia. Until then, “Wolves of Worry” offers a striking preview of what’s to come: a full-length debut that howls, aches, and finally, heals.
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