Deb Never's "Disassociate" Is a Haunting Reflection on the Past Year

Photo: Angela Ricciardi

This past year has affected all of us differently, and yet, our collective isolation has left us with a shared point of empathy. It is a lingering connection whose true effects will only show with time, but its traces are likely to make themselves known in everything from passing conversations to art. Such is the case with "Disassociate," the latest haunting single from Deb Never.

"Disassociate" is set to appear on Deb Never's forthcoming EP, Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, which is set to release July 23. Written in the winter of quarantine, "Disassociate" is unsurprisingly wistful. Yet, there is a serene beauty to it all, like watching the snow slowly pile up, covering the world around you in a cold, all-encompassing blanket.

Opening with a tranquil string accompaniment, Luke Wild and Michael Percy's understated production provides an eerily delicate backdrop for Never's musings on substance abuse, growing older, and the fear of fading into nothingness. "Feels like something's missing / Fall asleep right next to all my demons / Tell me that you'll wake me when it's over / Think I'm scared to death of getting older," confesses Never in an angelic register that betrays the sweeping undercurrent of doom and gloom.

"Disassociate" and its existential woes are a direct byproduct of a year of uncertainty. It is gloom pop at its finest and most raw, but more than anything, it is a vulnerable portrait of Deb Never, the artist and person.

Listen to "Disassociate" below: