Swiss-American indie rocker Sam Himself recently dropped his first single ahead of his upcoming sophomore album that will be released in 2023. If this tune is anything to go by, we have every right to be excited about his new LP.
‘Never Let Me Go’ is an emotional song that starts with a mellow and lethargic vibe, with high-pitched, echoey synth sounds before his soft vocals enter the soundscape. The lyrics portray a sense of loneliness and uncertainty, with lines such as ‘home’s a strange and distant place’ and ‘lone shadows in the shade where we met’.
As the first chorus hits, you notice that the sound has widened vastly, and there’s a lot more going on when compared with the first verse. There are siren-esque sounds in the background as Sam Himself sings ‘don’t go’ in a vulnerable manner.
We hear a brief bridge section starting with the lyric ‘leave my flowers out to freeze’; in this part of the song, Sam has put a fascinating effect on the vocals, making it sound as if he’s whispering from a cave. This part then leads to a drop, where the chorus hits again and the song suddenly sounds like a dancey tune that would go down well in bars and festivals, despite its previously slow and downbeat atmosphere. This is a skilful thing that the Swiss-American artist has pulled off here.
Listen to this unique and emotional new single here: