Los Angeles-based Deb Never has shared a new music video for their single “Momentary Sweetheart,” the first preview fans will get of the artist’s upcoming new project. After releasing her debut album Where Have All the Flowers Gone? back in 2021, she continued to build on her compelling mixture of bedroom pop and heady grunge with each new release. She is known for drawing all kinds of collaborators from Brockhampton to Audrey Nuna, the latter she team-up with to release two singles “sardines” and “multigrain.”
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On “Momentary Sweetheart,” Deb Never gives voice to the bristling feeling of needing someone when you’re at your most alone. Against an explosive medley of guitars that grind away at her desire and longing, the song becomes this rollicking anthem that manages to dually electrify as it echoes the deflation of the heart. “‘Cause only when it’s gone you look for something new / Well don’t you hate when I go?” she wails against the raucous collapse of sound. Capturing all the melancholic beauty and rapt energy as Deb Never reckons with her need for someone to connect with and the vast shortcomings of the person they’re stuck with.
The music video for “Momentary Sweetheart,” directed by UNCANNY, captures all the poignant angst of the song with its home video feel. But as the video begins it becomes this mind-bending distortion as sliding cutaways and elongated blurs of Deb Never visualize the ways she’s being pulled in different directions between what she needs and what’s available. Against the flash of strobes, she can be seen raging before the entire video cuts to a shot of her singing alone against a white spotlight, before diving one final time into the track’s sublime finale, which sees Deb Never absolutely shredding away bathed in red light.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest where she grew up as the daughter of Korean parents, Deb Never started out playing grunge before moving south to Los Angeles. Her debut EP House of Wheels was an early victory that introduced her love of pop-inflected melodies, while every single after saw her morph her sound into something uniquely her own. Keep an eye out for new music coming soon from Deb Never!
Deb Never will be playing at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on Apr. 6.
Visit Deb Never on their Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Deb Never tour (with KESHI*)
3/22 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theater*
3/24 Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom*
3/25 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave Eagles Club*
3/26 Minneapolis, MN – Armory*
3/28 Denver, CO – The Mission Ballroom*
3/29 Salt Lake City, UT – The Union*
4/01 Vancouver – University of BC*
4/02 Portland, OR – Moda Center*
4/03 Seattle, WA – WaMu Theater*
4/06 Los Angeles – El Rey Theatre
Words: Steven Ward
Watch the music video for “Momentary Sweetheart” the new single from Deb Never below!
