Never Really Gone (single)

Never Really Gone is a single by alternative pop duo Indigo Peak. It was the second track to be lifted from their sixth studio album, also titled 'Never Really Gone'.

Background
'Never Really Gone' was teased by Indigo Peak member Yannik Cassenove on his official Twitter account in late december 2020. It was officially announced via a press release on January 4th, 2021. Lyrically, 'Never Really Gone' is a reference to Indigo Peak's ten year hiatus. The duo stated in Flaunt Magazine that they had continued to produce material during their downtime as well as material for others. The track also features popular culture references to the Netflix movie 'Birdbox'. The track is an up-tempo dance song.

As with previous single 'Cocaine', Indigo Peak produced a '1986 mix' of the track, releasing it to streaming platforms on January 29th 2021. This mix samples 'Open Your Heart', by Madonna and features two covers inspired by her 1986 album 'True Blue'.

Indigo Peak released online exclusive formats which included remixes and 'Downtown', a cover of the Majical Cloudz track. A melancholic dance track, 'Downtown' featured interpolations from 'The State of Nothing', a lecture by Alan Watts.

Music Video
An accompanying music video produced by Norwegian photographer and filmmaker Øystein Aspelund was released on January 21st 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the brothers reached out to Aspelund online, who produced material for them which was then edited to include shots of the two performing the track.

Shots of remote Norwegian locales are featured throughout, which Aspelund filmed using drone technology. The Oslo based filmmaker made use of fire, smoke and light creating various 'explosive' effects in time with the up-tempo beat of 'Never Really Gone'. On his official Twitter account, Yannik Cassenove stated of the video "I've been a long-time admirer of Øystein's material. As with our last video, we wanted something that went against the grain of the track itself. It's exactly where we wanted to go with this."

Reception
The music video for 'Never Really Gone' was well received by critics. Lucy Clungé of Digital Spy said "breath-taking visuals, which when juxtaposed with the upbeat track is a match made in heaven." Whilst Valerie Cherish of Heatworld stated "makes me want to visit Norway hun."

Digital
01. Never Really Gone (Radio Edit)

CD Single
01. Never Really Gone (Radio Edit) 02. Never Really Gone (Album Version) 03. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix) 04. Never Really Gone (Extended Mix) 05. Downtown

7" Vinyl
01. Never Really Gone (Radio Edit) 02. Never Really Gone (Album Version) 03. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix) 04. Never Really Gone (Extended Mix) 05. Downtown

12" Blue Vinyl/Digital Remix EP
01. Never Really Gone (Radio Edit) 02. Never Really Gone (Album Version) 03. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix) 04. Never Really Gone (Extended Mix) 05. Cocaine 06. Downtown 07. Greatest Hits Megamix

1986 Mix Digital (Yannik)
01. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix) 02. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix Extended)

1986 Mix Digital (Andre)
01. Never Really Gone (1986 Mix Instrumental) 02. Never Really Gone (1986 Alternative Mix)

Critical Reception
'Never Really' gone premiered via Radio One on January 5th 2021 to critical acclaim. DJ Annie Mac called the single ”hot to trot” whilst a pre-release album review by Becky Rogers of NME dubbed the track "an incredible, tongue in cheek dance track."

Chart Performance
'Never Really Gone' impacted the airplay chart at number 36 on January 15th, 2021, rising to number 19 two weeks later.