With a new single as a primary songwriter, Jacob Collier returns from the ‘Djesse Vol. 3’ high in ‘Never Gonna Be Alone’, featuring the wonderful talents of both Lizzy McAlpine and John Mayer.

While Djesse Vol. 3 was an incredibly standout album in both its quality and uniqueness, a certain song particularly stood out to me from the record called ‘In Too Deep’. Jacob Collier is known for his ambitious blend of genres, especially by taking a jazz approach to the harmony and structure. In the aforementioned song, he took a much more streamlined approach in trap-infused R&B, making it one of his most accessible songs, while still having so many classic ‘Collier’ movements. In ‘Never Gonna be Alone’, Jacob takes that sound and explores it even further right alongside guest talent Lizzy McAlpine, who really stands as a co-creator more than a mere ‘feature’. Her voice is arguably more prominent than Jacob’s, and her own stylistic approach to harmony can be found just about everywhere in the song. A very calming and nurturing voice over a soothing backing track brings us to the second feature, John Mayer, or rather his lustrous guitar playing. While the musician is absolutely known for helming the mic as well, his part is limited to a few guitar solos, though they speak just as much as any words could. The muddied tone over the bright progression creates a beautiful contrast, highlighted by his David Gilmour-esque melodies. He also highlights the first major key change in the song, which really does feel like a marriage of all three’s musical geniuses.

‘Never Gonna be Alone’ is quite frankly one of Collier’s greatest tracks. It also paves way for new fans to not only be more familiar with every musician involved in this track, but bridges the gap perfectly between the slow-R&B Jacob masters, and his harmonious exploration that seeks places no one dares to venture. Well, no one that isn’t in this song, that is.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.